Mom who allegedly ran dog fighting operation sentenced for locking her kids in feces-covered bedroom

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (TCN) -- A 40-year-old mother who allegedly ran a dog fighting operation and was arrested last year after her 10-month-old daughter died will spend time behind bars for locking her children in a bedroom.

The First Circuit Solicitor’s Office announced April 7 that Sarah Shakeri-Taylor pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful conduct toward a child. A judge sentenced her to 10 years suspended to the service of nine years active prison time with three years of probation.

According to prosecutors, in May 2014, law enforcement responded to a home in the Eagle Run Neighborhood to a report of "two minor children who were hanging out of an open second-story window." The kids, ages 2 and 3, reportedly yelled at a passerby, claiming they had been locked inside their bedroom as punishment and couldn’t escape.

Witnesses and law enforcement officials tried to make contact with an adult, but no one answered the door, and deputies entered the residence through a window. Authorities reportedly found Shakeri-Taylor and a man sleeping upstairs and the kids locked in a bedroom down the hall.

Prosecutors said the bedroom was "covered in feces," and officials described it as "dirtier than a dog kennel." The children had allegedly been locked in the room for over 14 hours without any supervision or food. According to the solicitor’s office, the youngest child had a "fully soiled diaper duct taped to his body."

In 2018, Shakeri-Taylor reportedly failed to show up to court, and authorities issued a bench warrant for her arrest. However, prosecutors said the bench warrant was pending until she was charged out of Charleston County in 2024 on charges of homicide by child abuse, conspiracy, and ill treatment of animals. While Shakeri-Taylor was out on bond for the 2014 charge, she allegedly fled to Iran, and Dorchester County officials weren’t aware of her whereabouts until her baby died in 2024.

According to a release from the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, in the 2024 case, deputies responded to a home on May 15, 2024, to a report of an unresponsive child. The defendant was at the residence with the baby’s father, 41-year-old Sandy Gathers. Deputies performed lifesaving measures, but the infant was transported to the hospital and pronounced deceased. A toxicology report later revealed the baby, identified by WCSC-TV as Aminah Gathers, had a large amount of fentanyl in her system.

The sheriff’s office and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division also located around 15 dogs and evidence of dog fighting in the home.

In a statement, Chief Deputy Solicitor Kelly LaPlante said, "We are devastated that these children were locked in their room for such an extended period while their mother slept completely oblivious of the desperation of her own children. We are frustrated that Ms. Shakeri-Taylor was able to avoid prosecution for so many years. However, she is living proof that you can run, but you cannot hide in Dorchester County. We will eventually find you, and we will prosecute you."

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