A 2-year-old girl was shot by her mother last week; she is the Milwaukee woman's second child to die within seven months

Abuse, trauma and violence have marked the adult life of the 22-year-old Milwaukee woman charged this weekend in her toddler daughter’s shooting death.

Prosecutors say Jasmine C. Daniels was “playing around” with her gun last Tuesday when it went off, killing her 2-year-old daughter, Zymeiia Stevens. Seven months prior, according to authorities, she discovered her infant son dead after napping with him on her bed.

The chaos and violence Daniels' four children experienced in their young lives is revealed in reports on the infant's death and in court documents detailing charges against Daniels and the children's fathers.

The resulting picture of Daniels' life is complex. She was the victim of domestic abuse, and as a young mother from a disadvantaged background facing trauma, her children were at a higher risk for family violence.

Daniels' access to resources, whether for mental health, child care or anything else— and whether she used those resources — is unclear.

It is likely, however, that she had some type of contact with Milwaukee's Child Protective Services. Zymeiia's death is under investigation by the state Department of Children and Families, which has ordered a practice review of the case, a move that usually means the child welfare system had some prior contact with the family.

The Journal Sentinel typically does not identify victims of domestic violence but is doing so here to illustrate the broader context of trauma in which 2-year-old Zymeiia lived and died. 

Baby’s suspected co-sleeping death

Daniels and a boyfriend — the father of baby Traydon Nettles — were napping Dec. 18 in their bedroom with Traydon between them, according to reports from the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office. Daniels and Traydon were lying chest to chest.

The adults woke up when they realized Zymeiia and her 3-year-old brother had caused a flood in the apartment, Daniels told investigators. They left the room to clean up the water, and when Daniels returned she found Traydon unresponsive, according to the medical examiner’s reports.

Traydon had no known previous health problems, police said. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death to be undetermined.

No one was charged in Traydon's death.

Police did not refer any charges to prosecutors because toxicology reports from the medical examiner did not reveal any narcotics in Traydon's system, police spokeswoman Sgt. Sheronda Grant said.

And parents typically aren't charged on co-sleeping alone, Deputy District Attorney Matthew Torbenson told the Journal Sentinel.

But cocaine was later found in a baby bottle at the home, Torbenson said. That is one piece of information prosecutors are reviewing as they build a case against Daniels, he said.

However, the cocaine specifically did not play a role in Torbenson's decision to charge Daniels in the shooting death of her daughter, he said.

Daniels' attorney Reyna Morales argues that the two children's deaths should be considered separately.

She said both deaths would be heartbreaking for any parent and indicated Daniels likely suffered trauma in the death of her infant.

And she pointed to the distress Daniels apparently showed once Zymeiia was shot, according to the criminal complaint: She was "screaming frantically" while holding her daughter.

"My objection during the initial appearance was that (Traydon's death) should not be taken into account," Morales said. "That's just horrible — losing a child, no matter who you are, has to be probably the worst experience that you could have, no matter the circumstances."

Morales said she is still waiting to review much of the evidence in the most recent case and declined to comment on the charges specifically. Torbenson also declined.

The medical examiner's reports from December reveal poor living conditions inside the apartment where Traydon died — about two miles south of the home where Zymeiia would be shot seven months later.

And when police searched the basement unit on North 105th Street last week, they found sparse living conditions as well as cocaine, a digital scale, multiple cellphones and several rounds of ammunition.

Daniels suffered domestic abuse

Two fathers of Daniels' children have extensive criminal records, and according to a criminal complaint, one of them beat her with a crowbar and a year later pointed a gun at her head and threatened to kill her.

Darrell D. Stevens Jr., 25, pleaded guilty in 2016 to a felony charge of substantial battery with the intent to cause bodily harm in the crowbar case. His two-year sentence was stayed, and he was ordered to two years of probation.

In that case, according to a criminal complaint, Stevens strangled Daniels in the car. She dropped her then-1-year-old son and he hit his head on the console, causing bruising and a cut.

Daniels tried to escape but Stevens did not let her, according to the complaint. The two continued to struggle as Stevens drove to his grandmother's house, where he punched Daniels and hit her several times with a crowbar.

A year later, Stevens and Daniels were living together. He began arguing with her over giving their child soda and he pointed a gun at her head and said, "I'll kill you," according to a criminal complaint.

In that case, Stevens pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and violating a no-contact order, both misdemeanors with domestic abuse assessments.

Stevens has an open case in which he is accused of beating and threatening to kill another woman, and threatening to pistol-whip the woman's 8-year-old daughter.

Jarmell J. Bingham, 22 — the father of Daniels' 3-year-old son — was convicted in March in a murder-for-hire plot. After being convicted of felony murder in a 2018 shooting, Bingham last October mailed a letter from jail asking an associate to kill witnesses in his case, prosecutors said. He was sentenced last week to three years in prison for the latest case.

Were authorities aware?

The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families did not immediately provide information about its previous involvement with the family, citing confidentiality laws. The Journal Sentinel has filed an open-records request for more information.

The question of authorities' involvement is crucial, said Susan Conwell, executive director of the Milwaukee child advocacy organization Kids Matter.

Did Daniels receive grief counseling after the death of her son? Did she have a support system or family in the area that could help during challenging times?

If she did receive mental health treatment, it would be up to her to continue seeking it, Conwell said. Adults cannot be forced to receive mental health care.

In general, those at high risk for family violence, such as Daniels and her children, must choose to access the resources available to them, Conwell said. It's unclear to what extent Daniels did so.

"It's up to people who are struggling to get help," she said.

If convicted of first-degree reckless homicide, Daniels could face up to 60 years in prison.

Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or scarson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.