Shantaniqua Scott is seen here placing her hand over infant's mouth
FORT WORTH —Shantaniqua Nykole Scott, 18, of Waco, was convicted Thursday in Fort Worth of injury to a child for trying to smother her infant by putting a blanket and then her hand over his face.
A jury in Fort Worth deliberated for about 30 minutes Thursday before finding Scott guilty.
She faces a possible sentence ranging from probation to life in prison.
Defense attorney David Jones argued Thursday that Scott did not cause any serious injuries to her baby.
Jurors Wednesday watched videotape that showed the 18-year-old mother trying to smother her child while the boy was being treated at a North Texas children's hospital for a condition that caused him to stop breathing.
The video was recorded at Cook Children's Medical Center where the infant was placed in a video-monitored room after a doctor became suspicious.
Dr. Samy Hadeed, a pediatric pulmonologist, testified he was shocked at what he saw when he reviewed the surveillance video.
The videotape shows Scott first placing a blanket over the baby's face for more than 20 seconds and later, after a nurse entered the room and interrupted her, placing her bare hand over the infant’s face in an effort to smother him.
Scott held her hand over the baby's face for more than a minute, until alarms attached to the child began to sound and doctors and nurses rushed into the room to resuscitate
Hadeed testified the baby would have died had they not been there to help.
A detective testified Wednesday that after Scott's initial denial, she confessed and said it was hard being a teenage mother with no job or support from the baby's father.
The infant is now in foster care.
Scott has been indicted in connection with similar incidents in Waco, as well
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