Woman sentenced to jail after unrestrained son dies in crash

Mother of 4-year-old who died in crash, sentenced to jail

A distraught Shaniqua Baskins, was in a Detroit courtroom on Monday morning to face the judge.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A 4-year-old boy was killed in a car crash after not being properly restrained and being ejected from the vehicle.

His mother, a distraught Shaniqua Baskins, was in a Detroit courtroom on Monday morning to face the judge.

"I love my kids to death, I would never have imagined on May 6th, 2024, I would have lost my 4-year-old biological son that I carried and pray for, to be gone so soon," she said.

Baskins was sentenced to three years probation with the first six months to be served behind bars at the Wayne County Jail.

She pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

The backstory:

On May 6th, 2024, her 4-year-old son Ja’quavious was killed in the crash.

Investigators say Baskins knowingly drove her car with brakes that weren’t working properly when she crossed over the median on I-75 near I-94 in Detroit and hit another car.

Her son was ejected, with his body found lying on the highway when Michigan State Police arrived.

"To my kids I apologize, I used my whole tax refund to purchase this vehicle," she said. "Now I have lost everything, not just my son. I lost my house, my job. I failed my GED test."

At the scene Baskins — who didn’t have a driver’s license — failed a field sobriety test.

But at a vigil for her son just days later, she denied drinking when speaking to FOX 2.

"My child on the ground, of course I can’t walk a straight line - I barely can breathe," she said at time. "Anybody who knows Shaniqua, they know Shaniqua doesn’t drink at all."

Results of her blood alcohol tests were never made public — her attorney addressed the judge before sentencing.

"She’ll survive this because you don’t get over it, but you learn to live with it, just like the death of any other family member," her attorney said. "She'll learn to live with it, but she’ll never get over it."