MOUNT VERNON — A Howard woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to her role in the 2022 death of her 22-month-old child.
Savannah C. Masters, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of permitting child abuse, a first-degree felony, in Knox County Common Pleas Court.
She admitted to allowing her boyfriend, Danial L. Shahan, to beat her daughter at his Howard residence early in the morning of Jan. 31, 2022. She also admitted to waiting roughly 12 hours to take the child to the hospital.
The child, Emily Pruitt, died three days later at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus after being declared brain-dead.
Masters will be sentenced May 18 at 9 a.m. She faces three to 16 1/2 years in prison.
Knox County Assistant Prosecutor Christine Williams and Masters’ attorney, Newark-based Zachuary Meranda, recommended Wednesday that Judge Richard Wetzel sentence Masters to eight years in prison.
Masters agreed to waive her right to appeal her conviction, as part of a plea deal, meaning she is guaranteed to serve all eight years.
Howard man sentenced to 19 years in prison for role in child’s death
Shahan, 29, was sentenced in March to 19 years in prison for his role in Pruitt’s death. He pleaded guilty in February to one count of voluntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony; and one count of endangering children, a second-degree felony.
Shahan was originally charged with murder, an unclassified felony, and endangering children. He would have faced 15 years to life in prison if convicted.
But he also would have had the opportunity to get out on parole after 15 years. And Knox County Assistant Prosecutor Christine Williams said her office didn’t want to risk that.
So, her team went to Shahan’s with a deal: He would plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and endangering children – and waive his right to appeal his conviction – and the two sides would offer a joint sentencing recommendation to the judge of 19 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
The deal appealed to both sides, Williams said. It guaranteed Shahan would spend more than the previously guaranteed 15 years in prison, but it also guaranteed Shahan would be released from prison after a set period of time, which was not previously the case.
“He will do every day of that 19 years without the possibility of parole, and they have also agreed to waive any kind of appeal,” Williams told Knox Pages in February. “If we would have went into the realm of an unclassified felony, he would have the chance of (achieving) parole earlier than 19 years, and we did not want him to be given that opportunity.
“That’s why our office decided to get a hard number that could not be broken down for his good behavior or whatever you have to do to get out of prison early. We felt 19 years was a good number to assure us that (he’ll be in prison) for a pretty long time.”
Williams said Wednesday that Masters’ plea deal served a similar purpose.
“We wanted her not to be able to appeal, and we wanted her to do as many years consecutively as possible, and that’s how we came up with that number,” said Williams, referencing the joint recommendation to give Masters eight years in prison.
Masters was originally charged with permitting child abuse – the same charge she pleaded guilty to Wednesday.
“We knew the highest number she was looking at would probably be 11 (years in prison), and we weren’t interested in taking it to the trail stage,” Williams continued. “We were satisfied knowing we could get a straight eight years.”
This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.
