Woman accused of negligent manslaughter in baby’s 2022 death, St. Johns deputies say

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A woman is facing a charge of aggravated negligent manslaughter in the September 2022 death of an infant girl, St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office arrest records show.

Sherrell Monique Proctor, 34, of St. Augustine, was arrested Monday, online St. Johns County Jail records show.

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According to Proctor’s arrest warrant, a 911 caller said they were bringing a “’newborn baby’ who was not breathing to Fire Station 14,” on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022, just before 9:30 a.m.

When the 911 caller got to the fire station, which is located on West King Street, firefighters attempted lifesaving measures and took her to Flagler Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, the warrant said.

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Emergency room doctors told detectives the baby’s core body temperature was 93.2 degrees when she got to the hospital.

Proctor told detectives that the baby “contracted a ‘real real bad’ respiratory illness several days prior to her death,” the warrant said.

Proctor also said that she had been up with the baby in her three-bedroom apartment the night before her death because the baby “didn’t breathe once you laid her down,” according to the warrant.

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Proctor said around 6 a.m. on the day the baby died, she fed her. According to the warrant, Proctor told detectives did something between 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., but exactly what she did is blocked out in the report.

The report suggests Proctor left the apartment at one point that morning, as “the remaining occupants included two adults and seven children all of whom were asleep when Sherrell left.”

One of Proctor’s “juvenile children” discovered the baby “unresponsive on the couch” and told an adult, according to the warrant.

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“The adult quickly enlisted the assistance of the 911 caller who immediately began life-saving measures,” the warrant said.

Proctor told detectives that the baby “was ‘really sick’” the afternoon before her death -- Friday, Sept. 23, 2022 -- and she said she took the child to the doctor’s office.

Proctor claimed that the doctor refused to see the baby because she was late, and claimed she told medical staff that the baby couldn’t breathe.

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Detectives found that there was no appointment scheduled for the baby on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022 and that the child was only seen by a doctor twice between July 1, 2022 and Sept. 23, 2022 “with four canceled or no-show appointments,” the warrant said.

Proctor said she was going to take the baby to the Flagler Hospital emergency room “but chose not to because there was a ‘two hour wait,’” the warrant said.

Proctor “said she did not call St. Johns County Fire Rescue because ‘I didn’t know they did that,’” according to the warrant.

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Investigators found that the child “resided in deplorable conditions” and the “cause of death was sudden unexplained death with extrinsic and intrinsic factors,” the report said.

Proctor’s arrest warrant said the baby’s “autopsy findings include evidence of dehydration, small body weight for age, rhinovirus infection with chronic pulmonary inflammation and unsafe sleep conditions.”

Proctor is being held in the St. Johns County Jail on a $100,000 bond, records show.

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