A 54-year-old daycare operator in Ohio could spend the rest of her life in prison for killing a “fussy” 5-month-old boy who suffered fatal head injuries at her home daycare.
Franklin County Judge Bill Sperlazza on Wednesday ordered Tammra R. Straughter to serve life with the possibility of parole, court records show. She will be eligible for parole after serving a minimum of 15 years. A jury found her guilty in August of one count of murder and one count of child endangerment, and the court credited her with 54 days already served.
Kashan R. Crawford-Chatman’s mother, Stacia Crawford, dropped him and his twin brother at Straughter’s home in Reynoldsburg, where she ran a daycare, according to criminal and civil court documents. The twins were born prematurely on April 25, 2023, and spent several weeks in a neonatal intensive care unit. Crawford, a licensed counselor, had returned to work, according to a wrongful death lawsuit.
A few hours later, Reynoldsburg police called Crawford to say EMTs were treating Kashan after he briefly stopped breathing. She was told he was breathing again and was OK, according to the lawsuit.
Straughter told Crawford that “she had hit Kashan on his back after he choked on formula, left to help another child, and when she returned, Kashan appeared to be having trouble breathing,” the civil suit stated.
Crawford took Kashan to an urgent care facility, where he stopped breathing again. He was rushed to a nearby hospital and then transferred to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where staff “immediately noticed bruising on Kashan’s body.”
“He also has two jaw fractures and bruises all over his body,” the complaint says. “They told Ms. Crawford that Kashan’s injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome and that his brain was swelling.”
Hospital staff reported the injuries to Franklin County Children Services, and Kashan was pronounced dead less than a week later. The Franklin County Coroner’s Office ruled his death a homicide caused by “closed head injury consistent with shaken baby syndrome.”
The lawsuit says Children Services found the physical-abuse allegations against Straughter substantiated, while those against Crawford and Kashan’s father, Jontue Chatman, were unsubstantiated.
Straughter was indicted and arrested in February 2024. WBNS reported at the time that she told police the child had been “fussy” during the day but gave no explanation of how he suffered the fatal injuries. A search of her phone reportedly showed she had deleted text messages complaining about the “fussiness” of the twins.
At an earlier hearing, a prosecutor said video from inside the home showed Kashan appearing fine earlier on the day of his death before his condition changed that afternoon. Straughter was alone caring for Kashan, his twin and six other children, the prosecutor said.
Under Ohio law, small daycare operations don’t require a license if they care for a maximum of six children, with no more than three under 2 years old.