Sitter charged in boy's slaying

By ERIC STIRGUS

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 8, 2000

LARGO -- A 20-year-old Largo mother of two was charged late Wednesday with the murder of an 11-month-old boy she had been babysitting.

Largo police suspect that injuries to the child, Blake Solis, occurred Tuesday at the home of babysitter Shara Tereza Willhoite, authorities said.

The child's grandmother, Kathleen Howdeshell, noticed the injuries when she picked up the boy from the babysitter Tuesday afternoon, said Lt. Carla Boudrot of the Largo Police Department.

Howdeshell took the child to the home of his parents, Amy and Lewis Solis. The child was taken to a pediatrician, Boudrot said.

Police were called, and the boy was taken by helicopter to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, where he was pronounced dead about 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Investigators questioned Willhoite on Wednesday and charged her with felony murder of a child. Willhoite was taken to the Pinellas County Jail, where she was being held without bail. Detectives would not offer specifics but said the child had bruises on his head. The medical examiner will conduct an autopsy, Boudrot said.

Willhoite, who lives at 619 34th St. SE, is the mother of two other children, Boudrot said.

A child protection team from the Department of Children and Families had been notified, but Boudrot said she did not know the status of that investigation, or the other children.

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