SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. –On April 12, 2023, a jury found Shakir Omari Nunn, (45) of Victorville, guilty of murder in the first degree and torture of his eight-year-old son, Dominic Nunn.
On January 5, 2017, Dominic, who was deprived of food, ate some of his father’s candy. For this act, his father beat him to death. At the time of Dominic’s death, he was 8 years old, four feet tall, and weighed only 45 pounds.
During trial, four of Dominic’s siblings testified that abuse in the family household was a normal occurrence. The abuse included whooping, punching, drowning, strangling, food deprivation, social isolation and standing in the corner for long periods of time.
Dominic’s cause of death was blunt force trauma in just a matter of hours. During trial, Dr. Frank Sheridan, testified that Dominic’s external injuries were too numerous to count. Dominic had extensive internal injuries including a lacerated liver, damage to his spleen, and intestinal/digestive system damage.
Dominic, a defenseless eight-year-old, was extremely isolated from the outside world and any contact he had with anyone else was closely monitored by his father. Anything that occurred in the house was carefully and meticulously planned by the defendant.
Defendant Nunn showed a complete lack of remorse for his actions. He inflicted additional punishments on his son, who was already dying, because he believed his son to be faking. After Nunn’s fatal beating of Dominic, who was laying on the floor unconscious with no detectable heartbeat, he gathered his other children around and concocted a story to explain Dominic’s injuries.
“Dominic’s final hours of life were painful and terrifying,” said Deputy District Attorney Kathy DiDonato who tried the case. “When the jury came back with a guilty verdict, they had tears in their eyes; tears for the little boy who endured so much suffering at the hands of his own father.”
Shakir Nunn was sentenced to 25 years to life for 1st degree murder and life for torture. Both sentences are to run concurrently.
Dominic Nunn would have celebrated his 15th birthday on August 3rd.
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