A Kansas mother already behind bars on arson charges is now accused of murder after investigators determined her 15-month-old son did not choke on food but was intentionally suffocated.
Shanna Kay Whitton, 31, faces charges of felony murder in the first degree, abuse of a child, aggravated child endangerment, and aggravated arson in connection with the death of her son, Matthew Whitton, according to an amended criminal complaint. She had originally been charged with eight arson-related offences in October 2025.
The incident that would ultimately claim Matthew’s life occurred on August 25, 2025, at the Mimosa Arms Apartments in Clearwater, a small town about 25 miles southwest of Wichita. Responding officers found the toddler unconscious and not breathing. Emergency personnel rushed him to a hospital in Wichita, where he was admitted in critical condition and died three days later.
Investigators initially heard that Matthew had choked on food, but the story kept shifting. A downstairs neighbour recalled the mother’s inconsistency. “First, she told people it was a meatball from spaghetti with sauce,” the neighbour said. “Then the Spaghetti-Os with sauce in it.”
Matthew’s autopsy, completed in January this year, told a different story entirely. The medical examiner determined he died of complications from hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy caused by an intentionally inflicted asphyxia event meaning he had been deliberately deprived of oxygen. His death was ruled a homicide.
Investigators also reviewed a fire that had broken out at the same apartment complex in July 2025 one month before Matthew’s death. That fire, authorities determined, had been intentionally set inside Matthew’s own bedroom while the boy was inside.
Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter told local KAKE that the investigation had been thorough and deliberate. “These investigations take time because we have a responsibility to get them right,” he said. “Our detectives are committed to putting the pieces together and being a voice for children who can’t speak for themselves.”
The sheriff’s reference to children in the plural was not incidental. Authorities are also investigating the July 2024 death of Whitton’s 2-year-old daughter, Gypsy Rose known by family as Jolene “Jojo” Naomi. Easter confirmed detectives would be sharing additional findings with prosecutors as they emerge.
The neighbour, who remembered watching Matthew leave the building for the last time, put it simply: “They took him out on the gurney and he never came back home.”
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