Fort Eisenhower officials say that a U.S. Army spouse was arrested for allegedly killing her 11-month-old son on Wednesday on post, something she confessed was “wrong” and “evil.”
April Evalyn Short, 30, of Fort Eisenhower – formerly Fort Gordon – is charged by federal complaint with murder, with an aggravating circumstance of the alleged crime occurring during an act of child abuse, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. The infant victim was the son of Staff Sgt. James Short, a drill sergeant on post.
The criminal complaint alleges that on the morning of Nov. 15, Short used a knife to cut the neck of an 11-month-old child who later was pronounced dead at Eisenhower Army Medical Center. A court filing says the mother intended to send the child to “God and Jesus.”
Short has appeared for an initial hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian K. Epps and has not yet entered a plea, but she was ordered to undergo a mental examination to see if she was insane at the time of the killing. She is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and is being held in the Jefferson County Detention Center awaiting further proceedings.
Court filings provide the disturbing details of the killing:
Sgt. Short was at his place of duty around 8 a.m. Wednesday when he got a text from his wife that caused him to worry about the well-being of the child. It made references to God and said “the days of darkness are upon us.” He tried to call his wife but could not reach her.
Sgt. Short rushed home and found his wife barricaded in the master bathroom with their infant son and two other children, ages 6 and 11. He tried to get into the bathroom and could not. The sergeant then called 911 and asked for police assistance.
Officers with the Department of the Army Civilian Police (DACP) arrived and asked the mother to exit the bathroom. She came out with the two older children. An officer tried to detain her, but she pulled away and left the home.
“She entered her vehicle and attempted to leave the scene,” the court document says. “DACP Officer Q. Stacy followed Short from the residence. Short got into passenger side and Q. Stacy tried to stop Short but was unsuccessful.”
The mother then moved to the driver’s seat and tried to leave with the older children in the backseat. She started the vehicle and began to back out of the driveway, with the officer partially in the car. Officer Stacy was forced to draw his weapon to get Short to comply with his commands. At this point, Short stopped the vehicle in the street and complied with the officer’s commands and was detained.
Other officers on the scene had also come outside during this encounter. Sgt. Short realized that his infant son was not with his wife. At approximately 9:11 a.m., Sgt. Short went back to the master bedroom to look for the child and screamed. The child was found in the master bathroom wrapped in plastic with apparent wounds and bleeding from the neck.
The child was rushed to Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased by the attending physician.
FBI agents interviewed the mother’s older children, and the 6-year-old daughter said that her mother got two knives and “was going to help get” her brother “to God and Jesus.” The suspect allegedly told them, “Don’t come into the bathroom because it might be really scary.”
Later, the suspect told her children that she cut their brother so that he could “be with Jesus and God.” Then April Short threatened to cut the 6-year-old child if she didn’t stop crying.
In an interview, April Short confessed to wrapping the infant in a shower curtain in the bathtub and attempted to use a knife to cut his neck. She said the first knife did not work because it was dull, so Short used a second knife to cut his neck. Short admitted to knowing what she did and that it was “wrong” and “evil.”
In court Thursday, a judge ordered April Short to undergo a mental examination.
“There is reasonable cause to believe defendant may suffer from a mental disease or defect rendering her mentally incompetent to the extent she is unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against her or to assist properly in her defense,” the court’s order says.
The case is being investigated by Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division with assistance from the FBI, and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Henry W. Syms Jr. and Patricia G. Rhodes.
Post officials released a statement about Sgt. James Short on Friday. “Short joined the Army in 2006 as a signal support system specialist and joined the Fort Eisenhower team in 2021 as a drill sergeant,” said Lesli J. Ellis-Wouters, communications director for the fort’s Cyber Center of Excellence.
“We are focused on providing support to all who suffered in this tragedy,” she said in a statement. “We appreciate the sensitivity afforded to our community as we take care of our team and continue to heal from this tragic loss.”
Staff writer Susan McCord contributed to this report.
