Local couple arrested for murder of infant

WAXAHACHIE – The Ellis County Sheriff’s Department arrested a Waxahachie couple last week on charges of the murder of their female infant.

The name of the infant was not released.

Heather Williams, 30, and Shawn Lankford, 43, were arrested on Tuesday, June 7, and booked into the Wayne McCollum Detention Center.

Their bond was set at $1,000,000 each.

The incident was initially reported on Saturday, March 19, when Ellis County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a residence on Lone Elm Road in Waxahachie in reference to a child who was not breathing.

The deputies arrived at the location and observed the infant being loaded into an ambulance.

Emergency medical personnel were performing CPR on the child, who was transported to Methodist Hospital in Midlothian where, according to a press release from the Ellis County Sheriff’s Department “lengthy life-saving measures” were taken.

However, the child was pronounced dead on the same day at 11:16 a.m.

After interviews with the parents of the deceased child, Lankford and Williams, by the Sheriff’s Department, a second investigation was conducted by the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division.

At the request of the sheriff’s office, an autopsy was conducted by the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office on the deceased child.

The autopsy revealed the infant died from the “toxic effects of methamphetamine in an unsafe sleeping environment.”

As a result of the investigation, arrest warrants for the offense of murder were obtained on both parents.

The Ellis County Sheriff’s Office thanked a number of law enforcement agencies including a statement, “We would also like to thank the Office of the Texas Attorney General Fugitive Unit for their assistance in the apprehension of these suspects.”