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The Case of Tasha Shelby
📻 Episode #323
🎙️ Hosted by Maggie Freleng
📅 Jan 09, 2023
About This Episode
On May 30, 1997, Tasha Shelby found her boyfriend's two and half-year-old toddler having a seizure on his bedroom floor. Bryan was pronounced dead at the hospital the following day, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide. Tasha, a naturally small woman, was on bed rest at the time, after giving birth and…
The Case
On May 30, 1997, Tasha Shelby found her boyfriend's two and half-year-old toddler having a seizure on his bedroom floor. Bryan was pronounced dead at the hospital the following day, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide. Tasha, a naturally small woman, was on bed rest at the time, after giving birth and undergoing multiple surgeries, and Bryan was more than half Tasha’s size, standing 3 feet tall and weighing 33 pounds. Tasha’s physical inability to have shaken Bryan to death did not stop the state, who prosecuted and convicted Tasha based on the junk science of Shaken Baby Syndrome. Maggie speaks to Tasha Shelby, Penny Warner, Tasha’s aunt, and Valena Beety, Tasha’s attorney.
https://www.change.org/p/free-wrongfully-imprisoned-tasha-shelby
https://freetashashelby.com/clemency/
Call Mississippi Assistant Attorney General Ashley Sulser, Director of the Criminal Appeals Division (601-359-3800 or ashley.sulser@ago.ms.gov), and Harrison County District Attorney Crosby Parker's office (228-865-4003), and ask them to agree to dismiss the charges against Tasha Shelby. https://www.ago.state.ms.us/contact/ ; http://harrison2.co.harrison.ms.us/directory/?department=District%20Attorney
Call Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves's office (601-359-3150 or governor@govreeves.ms.gov) asking him to grant Tasha’s clemency petition. https://governorreeves.ms.gov/
https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/172-wrongful-conviction-junk-science-shaken-baby-syndrome/
In Their Own Words — transcript excerpts
Short excerpts from the episode's official published transcript, with timestamps — listen from these moments, or read the full transcript via the podcast's own platforms.
00:04:25“Speaker 1: At seventeen, Tasha gave birth to her first child, her son, Dakota. Speaker 1: By this time, she was back in Mississippi, and after Speaker 1: a couple of years, she ran into an old acquaintance, Speaker 1: Brian Thompson the Third, also known as Big Brian. Speaker 2: He's one of the first people I see from my”
00:16:51“Speaker 2: just needed just make it better for myself and tell Speaker 1: But Tasha said, the truth is what she already told him. Speaker 1: She didn't hurt little. Speaker 2: And he finally opens the door and says, this bitch Speaker 2: is not gonna talk. Let's booker.”
00:29:14“Speaker 5: Brian were shown to the jury and the jury was Speaker 5: told that those were massive bruises, when instead they were Speaker 5: actually a birthmark known as Mongolian spots. So it wasn't abuse, Speaker 5: it was a natural thing this child had. It's nothing harmful,”
Listen to the Episode
🎧 Listen on Omny / the podcast's platforms
🎧 Full episode page — Lava for Good
Resources & links from the episode:
- www.change.org
- freetashashelby.com
- www.ago.state.ms.us
- harrison2.co.harrison.ms.us
- governorreeves.ms.gov
- lavaforgood.com
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