Convicted baby killer sentenced to 22 years

Convicted baby killer Summer Shalodi barely lifted her eyes from the table Oct. 19 before she was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

The punishment came as the result of a plea deal between prosecutors and Shalodi, 32, of Westlake, who was scheduled to stand trial in the killing of 17-month-old Nadia Nicole Gibbons Jr., of Cleveland, while baby-sitting the girl in December 2015 at a Lorain home.

As part of the agreement, Shalodi pleaded guilty to five counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of corrupting another with drugs, two counts of endangering children and a single count of tampering with evidence.

As Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge D. Chris Cook asked a series of questions designed to

ensure Shalodi knew what she was pleading to, the rights she was waving and the consequences of the plea, her replies were barely audible.

After the plea was expected, Nadia’s mother, Nadia Gibbons, addressed the court sharing some of the impact Shalodi’s actions had on herself and her family.

Gibbons shared a journal post she wrote on what would have been Nadia’s 3rd birthday.

“My heart aches for her loving smile and giving nature,” she read. “Every time I think of her, I think of how she was a happy baby, and how I have videos that capture her presence the most and it makes my heart ache.”

Gibbons described how Shalodi was a worker at a daycare center where she built a relationship with Nadia and her mother.

She described how Shalodi asked to baby sit the girl after she stopped working at the facility.

“She pursued us, your honor,” Gibbons read holding back tears. “She reached out to me to tell me that she missed my daughter; she wanted to spend time with her, she wanted to see her.

“The first time that she watched Nadia by herself, she told me that she was thankful I trusted her enough to do so. Summer deceived me; she fooled me into trusting her with my most precious gift; and why wouldn’t I? She was my daughter’s daycare teacher. She had years of experience working with and caring for children.”

Gibbons said after her daughter’s death, she blamed herself.

But through prayer and counseling, she said she is making progress.

“That type of false guilt could tear a person apart,” Gibbons said. “Summer’s selfish actions took my baby’s life. Summer’s actions were pure evil.”

Nadia’s godfather, Jimmy Hicks III, also addressed the court speaking about how God and the family helped Nadia’s mother after the child’s death.

“No matter what she was going through, we were all in it with her, different degrees, different levels, but there nonetheless,” Hicks said. “Through the heartache, through the pain and the tears, we’ve grown stronger together as a family. God has used this horrible accident to build us stronger.”

Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Laura Dezort asked Cook to take a minute to look through a photo album of Nadia.

“She’s an adorable child and in every picture she’s smiling,” Cook said. “You’re lucky to have this book; keep

it.” “I wish there were more pages in that book, but there aren’t because of what our defendant did, or didn’t do,” Dezort said.

Dezort expanded on what happened the night Nadia was killed saying Shalodi didn’t have to baby sit the girl and originally told Nadia’s mother she couldn’t, but later changed her mind.

“Apparently, she really didn’t want to baby sit because she was making phone calls and sending texts trying to make arrangements to actually go out,” Dezort said. “By about 8:45 or so, she had left Nadia in the hands of another baby-sitter: Xanax.”

Xanax is a sedative prescribed to treat anxiety and panic attacks.

Shalodi went to the store and bought wine, met a friend at the movies and went to Walmart before returning about 2:30 a.m., Dezort said.

“When Nadia wasn’t responding to her the defendant, instead of picking up her phone and calling 911, instead of calling her father who’s a doctor, instead of taking steps that we teach children, she set out doing things to try and wake up Nadia; to revive her,” Dezort said. “Every step she took, took Nadia one step closer to death.

“She shook her to try and revive her; that caused injuries. She put her in hot water to try to revive her; that caused injuries.

“Each and every step she took, caused more and more injuries and ultimately led to the death of Nadia. And she did it to protect herself. She did it so she wouldn’t be responsible.”

If Shalodi had called for help, the girl would have survived, Dezort said.

As part of the plea agreement, Shalodi was required to make a statement to the court.

A microphone was moved close to her mouth as she sat at the defense table with a trash bin close to her feet.

“I accept responsibility for Nadia ingesting Xanax, and for what happened after I got home,” she said still barely audible despite the amplification. “Nadia was not responsive when I got home. I did several things to try and revive her. They were poor choices on my part.

“I was trying to find the right words, and I know there will never be the right sorry (s) or the right words to say. I can only offer my apology now and tell you so sincerely that if I could change this, if I could fix this, I would and tell you a million times how sorry I am, and that I think about it all the time, every single day.”

When Shalodi is released from prison, she will be on community control for five years.

As part of the sentence, she must pay a $15,000 fine and $3,995.26 in restitution,