Cape man sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatal shooting of 1-year-old

A Cape Girardeau man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison in connection with the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old girl.

Judge Michael Gardner sentenced Isaac Egbuka on Monday.

Egbuka, 29, pleaded guilty in December to first-degree involuntary manslaughter and one count of armed criminal action, the Cape Girardeau County Circuit Clerk’s Office said.

Gardner sentenced Egbuka to 10 years on the manslaughter charge and 15 years on the armed criminal action charge, according to the clerk’s office.

Egbuka initially had been charged with second-degree murder, first-degree domestic assault and two counts of armed criminal action in connection with the March 12 shooting.

The shooting occurred shortly after 2 a.m. at 50 Green Acres Drive where Egbuka and his sister lived, police said.

When officers arrived, they found the child, Jamariel Lanique Tanksley, had suffered a gunshot wound to the head. She was transported to Saint Francis Medical Center where doctors were unable to save her. She was pronounced dead at 3:31 a.m., police said.

Egbuka’s sister, Kimberly Egbuka, told police her brother “had been drinking all night and was intoxicated,” according to a probable-cause statement.

She said she was babysitting the child of a close friend when Isaac Egbuka began arguing with her in a back bedroom of the house while she was sitting on the floor rocking the infant.

Isaac Egbuka pushed his sister over, head first onto a treadmill, police detective Darren Estes said in the probable-cause statement.

Kimberly Egbuka said she was still holding the baby and landed on top of the child. Isaac then “got on top of them,” according to the statement.

“Kimberly said, as she was getting up and still on her knees, she heard a gunshot and looked down and saw Isaac had shot the baby in the head. A moment later she heard another gunshot,” Estes wrote.

Estes said Kimberly Egbuka believed her brother was trying to kill her.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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