Mother Gets 30-Day Jail Sentence for Baby Waterboarding, Freezer Incident

On Sept. 12, a mother from Oregon was sentenced to jail for actions she was found guilty of committing two years ago. During that time, according to authorities, she subjected her infant son to dangerous acts, such as holding him under running water and placing him in a freezer, all in an attempt to reportedly “test” the child’s father.

Sharday McDonald, 30, was ordered to spend 30 days in jail for first-degree criminal mistreatment, identity theft, and, in an unrelated event, tampering with a witness, People reported. The woman who pleaded guilty to all charges on July 28 is expected to be released next month and will be on supervised probation for three years, a spokesperson said.

On Oct. 28, 2021, police were called to her apartment in Gresham to perform a welfare check after receiving a tip that McDonald had put her unidentified son in the freezer to see if the infant’s father, Kendrick Neal, would notice.

Fox 12 Oregon reported that court documents revealed the police arrived at the door to the apartment and overheard the woman yelling at the father. McDonald was heard saying, “I’m about to show you real quick. You don’t want him? Let me show you about this little f—-ng baby, I don’t f—-ng give f–k about.”

The woman reportedly told the officer that she did not intend to cause any harm to the infant, but wanted to see if the father “gave a f— at all,” Law & Crime reported. However, pictures of the woman holding her son “by his onesie” under running water might suggest otherwise. An officer said pictures provided showed the woman waterboarding the baby.

“It looked like [the baby] was trying to hold his breath while water was pouring over his face…,” the officer said, according to Fox 12.

McDonald will be released Oct. 6, according to records from Multnomah County Detention Center.