Video of Ohio Woman Stealing Toy From Baby’s Grave Goes Viral

Surveillance video footage of an Ohio woman stealing a stuffed duck toy form a 14-month-old baby’s grave quickly went viral and made its way across the web. The video has received several thousand hits.

Police have charged the Ohio woman for stealing items from the baby’s gravesite at Mansfield Memorial Park.

An Ohio woman was caught on camera stealing a toy duck from a boy’s grave. The video quickly went viral.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Detective Jon Sigler said Frieda Kay Shade, 54, of Mansfield, Ohio, turned herself in Wednesday and she provided an explanation to authorities for why she stole the stuffed toy in the first place. Shade claims she took the stuffed duck from the grave of Hayden “Tank” Cole Sheridan because a dog was running loose in the area and she was afraid it would destroy the toy.

Shade’s attorney, Charles Robinson, said Shade will plead not guilty to one count of theft, a first-degree misdemeanor offense. Her court date has been scheduled for May 8 in Ontario.

Sigler said several people came forth to identify Shade as the suspect after a video camera the police had set up near the gravesite captured a woman taking the toy was shared on social media.

“The video is there, we’re not denying that. But video evidence does not show what a person is thinking. There are mitigating circumstances,” Robinson said, without going into detail. “We all have sympathy for a child who has expired. We know how hard that is, and we sympathize with that.”

According to Mansfield Municipal Court records, the Ohio woman has made several appearances in court for criminal and civil charges including passing bad checks, unauthorized use of property and evictions. Shade currently has two open cases in Richland County Common Pleas Court Ohio in reference to state taxes.

“I have no idea yet how I feel about (the arrest). I’m kind of in shock and have had no chance to think about it,” said Scott Sheridan, Hayden’s father, who died in 2007.

Surveillance cameras were first set up by the Ontario Police Department in July 2012 after Sheridan and his wife expressed concern that the grave has been targeted for thieves over the years; stealing items from flowers to wreaths and other toys.

They’ve definitely experienced enough theft over the years to make them feel that way,” Sigler said of the Sheridans. “In 2012, they noticed some solar lights were gone when all the graves around had theirs.”

The video of the Ohio woman prompted several people to contact the Ontario Police Department identifying Shade after it was posted on Facebook.