A Louisiana mom can sleep a little easier knowing that the woman she hired as a caregiver for her infant will face charges for his death. There was a relationship built on trust, and ultimately the mother’s trust was betrayed. And despite the charges, that is something she may never get over.
Details are still emerging, and not much is known about motive, but in the three short hours the boy was with his caregiver, he was so badly injured that he ultimately died. And while the charges won’t bring him back, it could bring justice.
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The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office shared a statement on Facebook about the case. On January 22, 2025, officers were called to a local hospital in regards to an unresponsive 3-month-old baby.
While speaking with hospital personnel, detectives learned that the infant had sustained a “massive brain bleed and multiple skull fractures” they believed to be “consistent with trauma.” The baby was airlifted to another hospital, but he died the next day from his injuries.
Police spoke with the boy’s mother and learned that she had left him with caregiver Shirley L. Sawyer. The mother, Symone Anderson, told police that she had left her son Kairo with Sawyer for three hours.
According to Anderson, when she picked Kairo up from Sawyer, she believed that her son was asleep. However, a short while later, she discovered the baby to be “limp and unresponsive.” She was unable to wake him up, so she immediately rushed him to the hospital.
On February 4, police issued a warrant for Sawyer’s arrest in connection with Kairo’s death. Sawyer faces a first-degree murder charge, and a judge has set her bond at $2.5 million.
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“I’m just happy that my baby can rest now in peace,” Symone Anderson told news station KPLC.
Anderson told the station that she is from California, but had been living in Louisiana since April to care for her mother. She had also planned for Kairo to be born in Louisiana as well. Anderson was planning to return to California this month.
Speaking about her son’s caregiver, Anderson told KPLC, “I’ve been knowing this girl for a minute and I couldn’t believe it. Like, you smiled in my face and you killed my baby behind my back.”
The investigation into Kairo’s death is ongoing.
