Neighbors, acquaintances ‘heartbroken’ after baby allegedly murdered by his mother
By Lily O’Brien
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CLEARWATER, Kansas (KAKE) — People who knew a woman accused of murdering her 15-month-old son are sharing what they saw, what doesn’t add up, and emotions surfacing now that investigators say the death wasn’t an accident.
Neighbors say they’re feeling more “unsettled” by what was happening a couple of doors down than anything.
For some of Shanna Whitton’s neighbors, the signs of problems were there long before investigators ruled the death a homicide.
For others who knew her, the charges don’t match the woman they thought they knew.
“There’s no loss like the loss of a child,” said Cindy Miles.
It’s a loss, Miles says, that is crushing: the death of 15-month-old Matthew Whitton.
“I don’t think any of us have a full understanding of what truly happened,” she said.
Miles says she went to church with Whitton for years.
She says the accusations facing Whitton don’t sound like the woman she knew, sitting near her in the pews at church.
“I knew her as a very loving mother, so I was very taken aback when I saw the charges filed,” she said. “But I am hesitant to convict immediately without knowing more of the story.”
In 2024, investigators say Whitton’s two-year-old daughter, “Gypsy Rose,” died from choking.
One year later, Whitton says Matthew also died from choking.
“First, she told people it was a meatball… then the Spaghetti-O’s with sausage in it,” recalled Heather Lambert, a neighbor.
Months later, an autopsy would show something very different — homicide by asphyxiation.
Whitton is charged with murder and multiple counts of child abuse.
“We were all in fear,” said Lambert. “From what I understand, she has had DCF in her life since Matthew was born.”
Matthew died in August, his autopsy finalized in January, and investigators charged Whitton three months later.
“She was handcuffed and she showed just a little emotion. She actually had tears, which I hadn’t seen in any of the other incidents with Matthew,” said Lambert.
Another charge — for arson — stems from a fire almost exactly one month before Matthew’s death.
The Clearwater Fire Department declined to comment on whether the volunteer department had originally determined the cause of the fire, and if CFD brought it to the attention of either Sedgwick County or Kansas fire investigators.
The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office and autopsy reports indicate Whitton intentionally started the fire inside Matthew’s bedroom while he was inside.
Between the fire, Matthew’s death, and the death of Whitton’s daughter, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office says it’s digging deeper.
“This is a day that’s been needing to come for a long time,” since Lambert.
The office says it will be opening an investigation into the two-year-old daughter, who did not have an autopsy performed after her death.
“If I worked for DCF, I certainly would be exploring as well what happened with these children,” said Miles.
Miles lost her own 15-month-old grandson in 2009 because of child abuse.
She says it’s helped her understand how multifaceted these types of cases are, and that there’s always different sides to a story — but at the end of the day, “there’s no loss as heartbreaking as losing a child.”
“Every time another child dies, I am crushed. I don’t know whether we’re making the progress that we need to make overall with addressing child abuse and neglect,” said Miles. “It’s heartbreaking to see us lose one child, let alone, you know, for somebody to lose two children.”
As the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office says it’s digging deeper — so is KAKE News.
KAKE News has filed multiple open records requests (KORA) with the state to get more information on the arson investigation, as well as from the Department of Children and Families.
The State has three days to respond to those requests.
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