Waynesville woman receives life in prison for death of 5-year-old girl

WAYNESVILLE, Mo. — Shamira Buford, a certified nursing assistant from Waynesville, has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a five-year-old child.

Buford pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child on April 25, 2024 . Three other charges against her, including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and abuse or neglect of a child resulting in death, were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

In March 2023, Buford and Angela West were arrested after investigators found a five-year-old girl dead in their home under a blanket next to a length of rope and a balled-up sock. Buford told investigators the girl was tied up on the night she died.

Buford and West told investigators that they tied up the girl’s ankles and wrists so she wouldn’t steal food at night and stuffed a sock in her mouth to keep her from screaming among other abuses.

Angela West pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child in December 2023 and also received a lifetime prison sentence.

Court heard testimony from one witness connected to the case. OzarksFirst was allowed in the courtroom but was asked not to reveal the witnesses’ identities.

“When I found out she was over in that corner and started walking towards it, that’s when I saw the foot sticking out from underneath the blanket,” a witness told the courtroom. “She had been she was sitting at the foot of the bed, leaning to the right. She was wearing pajamas. That’s when Ms. Buford picked her up. She was leaning to the right. You could tell she was lifeless.”

Prosecutors mentioned to the witness how there were marks on the child’s wrists and ankles.

“You could see more on her wrists and ankles, Ms. Buford told me that she did have to tie [the child up] because she steals food,” the witness said. “We recovered a rope. We’ve recovered a sock that was placed in her mouth, [that had be duct taped]. The sock had blood on it.”

The witness not only said this was the worst case they had been a part of, but another person connected to the investigation resigned from their position because of the psychological impact of the case.

“It’s just a complete breakdown of the system and what should be the ultimate protection, which is the parental system where a parent and a stepparent but sort of acting in that role, to get to the point where they are finding and gagging the child, involving their oldest child in that process and almost forcing upon her to be the disciplinarian and be the parent and ordering her to do things that should never be done to a child, it’s quite disturbing and it’s quite upsetting,” prosecutors argued. “She was supposed to protect this child and she didn’t. She knew what was going on here, and she didn’t step in and do what is her most fundamental duty as a parent, and that is to protect her child from things or from herself, from what’s going on here.”

Buford’s defense attorney asked for ten years in prison.

“My client has pled guilty and accepted responsibility and it acknowledged her role and admitted guilt to this court,” the attorney said. “

Buford addressed the court, crying as she spoke.

“I have to provide for my kids. I didn’t have any other help. Their father was nowhere to be help or help me. Yes, I know what’s wrong and I admit to being wrong in my part. I will admit I feel that I shouldn’t be sentenced to life imprisonment. I don’t want to be away from my kids. At the time I get out of prison for ten years, my kids will be grown. I won’t have no relationship with my kids. My kids are not here. My family is not here. I just want to be with my family. At least to have a chance to be with my family,” Buford said.

OzarksFirst spoke to the little girl’s paternal grandmother outside the courthouse off-camera.

She says they’ve lived in the Waynesville area for years and would have been willing to drop food off at any moment to help their grandbaby but Buford changed her address and purposely didn’t keep in contact.

The grandmother also asked out loud over and over why her granddaughter was the only one of the nine children in the home who had to go through what happened, suggesting it could have been retaliation by Buford out of frustration towards the child’s father.

While Buford pleaded with Judge Beger, he was unfazed.

“I’ve been doing this for over 46 years now as a lawyer, prosecutor now as a judge, as a father. I don’t remember any case that exceeds this. The horrendous facts recounted in probable cause statement, the sentencing assessment report, the victim impact statement, and you stand here and say you’re sorry that this happened to your child. You caused it to happen to your child. You not only have a legal obligation to provide for and protect your children, you have a moral obligation. Totally and absolutely. Thank. The court has no sympathy about the time you’re going to spend away from your family. Quite honestly, your children are better off being away from you,” Beger said. “Part of the problem in this case is that you induced cause and made your other children abuse this child to the point where the child died.

Beger then sentenced Buford to life in prison.

“I am very glad the judge sentenced her to what he sentenced her to,” Skyler Brotherton says outside the courthouse.

OzarksFirst previously spoke to Brotherton in 2023, when community members held a vigil for the little girl.

“The little girl that she murdered was like my niece. She was taken too soon. She did not deserve what [happened]. There was no need for her to be neglected. As a parent myself, I really can’t see me doing that to my own child, so knowing that she did that to her own child just kind of really hits home,” Brotherton said.

Brotherton previously worked with Buford, which makes the details of the child’s death so shocking.

“When I found out that she did that, it just it just kind of kind of hurt,” Brotherton said. “She does not deserve to be around any more of her kids, any of the other kids.”

He says it’s the start to closure for a hurting city.

“When the incident first happened over a year ago, Waynesville got hit pretty bad. A lot of us came together and did a lot of stuff for Ameela. We did the candle lighting at the park with they released balloons on her birthday the following day. Waynesville did a very, very good job of putting the funeral together for her on that aspect,” Brotherton said. “I’m really happy justice has been served for that little girl.”

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