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Mom Blames Impulsiveness

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By THOMAS W. KRAUSE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 21, 2007

TAMPA - A 26-year-old mother convicted this week of walking onto a school bus and encouraging her daughter to fight another girl was sentenced to a year in county jail.

Hillsborough County Judge John Conrad told Shayla Muldrow that she crossed a line when she walked onto that bus. A school bus, he said, is the same as a school: a protected place for children.

Muldrow's defense attorney tried to portray Muldrow as a mother protecting her then 9-year-old daughter from a bully. The other girl had slapped Muldrow's daughter two days earlier.

'You didn't want her to be affected by a bully,' Conrad said. 'But I don't know if you asked the question: If I encourage her into this aggressive act, have I now made her the person I wanted to protect her from?'

At the end of the hearing, shortly before Muldrow was led away in handcuffs, Conrad left her with one question:

'Do you love your children enough to keep them from repeating your mistakes?' he said.

After her jail time, Muldrow must serve six months' probation, complete an anger-management class and perform 50 hours of community service. She also must write a letter of apology to the bus driver.
Assistant State Attorney Venessa Bornost said Muldrow has had several previous convictions for charges including marijuana possession, criminal mischief and giving a false name to a law enforcement officer.

In 1996, she was riding in a stolen vehicle that crashed, killing someone. Eleven years later, Muldrow is still committing crimes, Bornost said to the judge.

'Ms. Muldrow has been in jail for short sentences and has been on probation,' Bornost said, 'none of which has rehabilitated her away from her criminal ways.'
Assistant Public Defender Cordel Batchelor had asked for probation or a suspended sentence. She said Muldrow has a diagnosed mental condition that makes her act impulsively.

On March 2, when Muldrow walked onto that bus, she truly believed she was there to help her daughter, Batchelor said.

'I think every mother's instinct is to protect her child,' she said.

In a brief statement to the judge, Muldrow blamed the bus incident on poor judgment.

Muldrow's mother and a therapist spoke on Muldrow's behalf. The therapist said Muldrow broke down in tears at the thought of jail - scared of what would happen to her children while she was incarcerated.

Sabrina Ford, Muldrow's mother, said she hoped her daughter could get help and learn impulse control.

'If she could do that, she could be a complete person,' Ford said.

The children, Ford said, are already suffering. Classmates have teased them after seeing Muldrow on television, Ford said.

Conrad said his sentencing decision was not easy because it affects so many people, including Muldrow's children and her mother, who will care for the children while Muldrow serves her time.

On Tuesday afternoon, a jury took an hour and a half to convict Muldrow of trespassing and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Testifying on her own behalf, Muldrow acknowledged walking onto the bus and asking who had slapped her daughter. An 11-year-old raised her hand.
Muldrow testified that she wasn't expecting a physical confrontation and only wanted her daughter to tell the other girl to stop bullying her. She acknowledged under cross examination, however, that she took off her daughter's back pack because she didn't want her daughter to wear it during a fight.

Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813)259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.

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