MAKENZIE McBRIDE - 23 months - Austintown (W of Youngstown) OH

Investigators can only speculate on the reasons behind three similar
child-abuse cases at Compass West Apartments over the past seven years.

Detective Sgt. Ray Holmes said when he investigated the 2003 abuse
and death of 2-year-old Jesse Wolfe at Compass West, he didn’t expect
two more children, just shy of 2 years old, to fall victim to the same
types of crime there.

Jesse’s mother Jennifer Wolfe, 27, pleaded guilty in 2005 to
involuntary manslaughter in the boy’s death. Wolfe, who lived at 853
Compass West, is serving a 10-year sentence in the Trumbull Correctional
Institution in Leavittsburg.

Holmes said Jesse was severely beaten. The toddler’s hair was falling
out because he was malnourished, and his ribs were visible.

The boy had new and old bruises all over his body, including his
face, the back of his head, his legs, buttocks and genitals. He died
with a bruise imprint of an adult hand on his face, according to the
coroner’s report.

The most recent case is the April 6 death of 23-month-old Makenzie
McBride.

Detective Sgt. Kathy Dina said when police and emergency medical
personnel found Makenzie, she was unresponsive and had severe bruises on
her face. She was taken to Akron Children’s Hospital where she died
later that day.

Her mother Shannon McBride, 22, and McBride’s live-in boyfriend Shawn
E. Davis, 25, both of 854 Compass West, are charged in connection with
the girl’s death. They’re in Mahoning County jail awaiting their May 17
trial on charges that include aggravated murder.

Dina said apartments 853 and 854 are directly across the hall from
one another.

“Obviously it’s very weird,” that the cases happened so close, she
said.

“You expect one of these to happen maybe once in your career, and
we’ve had several.”

Another abuse case happened at Compass West in November 2009. Timothy
White, 30, was charged with felonious assault and child endangering in
the beating of his girlfriend’s 23-month-old daughter. He is in the
Mahoning County jail and scheduled for trial May 24.

An Austintown woman has pleaded guilty to obstructing justice and
permitting child abuse in the April 6 death of her 23-month-old
daughter.

Shannon McBride, 22, of North Navarre Avenue, entered her plea today
before Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

McBride had been charged in the events leading to the death of her
daughter, Makenzie McBride, while she lived in the Compass West
apartment complex.

In the plea agreement, an aggravated murder charge against her and
the death-penalty specification accompanying it were dropped, and she
agreed to testify truthfully against her co-defendant, Shawn E. Davis,
25, of Compass West, when he goes on trial Jan. 10, 2011.

Providing she follows through on her promise to testify against her
former boyfriend, Shannon McBride will remain free on bond until Shawn
E. Davis' trial is resolved next year.Davis, 25, is charged with
aggravated murder and domestic violence in the death of McBride's
23-month-old daughter, Makenzie. He has pleaded not guilty.McBride,
22, of Austintown, in a plea bargain deal accepted Friday, agreed to
testify against Davis at his trial, which is scheduled to start in
January.As part of the agreement with the Mahoning County
Prosecutor's Office, McBride pleaded guilty to permitting child abuse
and obstructing justice, both felonies. She will serve a maximum
sentence of eight years and be eligible for judicial release in 5 1/2
years. She is scheduled to start serving her sentence at the conclusion
of Davis' trial, Dawn Cantalamessa, assistant county prosecutor, said.McBride
had faced charges of aggravated murder, obstructing justice and
permitting child abuse. If convicted of those crimes, she could have
faced the death penalty.The child was found unresponsive by
officers answering Davis' 911 call in early April. She later died from
her injuries at Akron Children's Hospital.McBride and Davis were
both indicted last month by a Mahoning County grand jury.Davis
remained in Mahoning County Jail on Friday. However, McBride was
released on her own recognizance after Judge Maureen Sweeney accepted
the plea bargain arrangement.