Commonwealth v. Shyan J. Csatlos; Daycare Provider Sentenced to 28 Years for Murder, Child Abuse of 4-Month-Old Baby

Virginia Beach, Va. – Colin D. Stolle, Commonwealth’s Attorney for the city of Virginia Beach, announced that Shyan J. Csatlos, age 43, of the 1900 block Perrel Street in Virginia Beach, Virginia, was sentenced for charges of Second-Degree Felony Murder and Child Abuse/Neglect.   She was found guilty of these charges by a jury on November 2, 2023, after a four-day trial. Circuit Court Judge Afshin Farashahi, who presided over the trial, sentenced Csatlos to fifty (50) years with 22 years suspended, leaving 28 years to serve.  This exceeded the Virginia State Sentencing Guidelines, which recommended a sentence no greater than 22 years and 8 months.  

The Commonwealth’s evidence proved that on August 15, 2019, Shyan Csatlos began providing daycare in her home for 3-month-old N.W.  Prior to beginning daycare at Csatlos’ home, N.W. was a happy, healthy baby.  While under the care of Csatlos, N.W. became fussier and on two separate occasions, had to be picked up by his parents due to vomiting and extreme fussiness.  He went to the hospital on both occasions. 

On the weekend leading up to September 17, 2019, N.W. was happy and healthy spending time with his parents and older siblings.  On September 17, his mother dropped him off at Csatlos’ house, happy and healthy.  Video footage from Csatlos’ home shows N.W. taking a bottle around 8 a.m.  Just before noon, Csatlos called 911 to report that N.W. was unresponsive.  Rescue arrived and were able to resuscitate him, despite him having a body temperature of 90.4 degrees Fahrenheit and being purple and blue.  He was eventually transported to the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, where he remained unresponsive until his death on September 21, 2019.  N.W. suffered a brain bleed, broken fingers, bruising, a black eye, and retinal hemorrhages.

Csatlos gave various accounts of what happened but could never provide an explanation for why N.W. became unconscious in her care.  Her stories to different investigators changed and were inconsistent.  Of note, she gave varying accounts of how long he had been unattended and possibly unresponsive, where he was when she noticed he was unresponsive, and whether he had been recently fed or had his diaper changed. 

The Commonwealth provided testimony from several C.H.K.D. physicians involved in his treatment, child abuse pediatricians, the medical examiner, and a neuropathologist.   All of these medical professionals diagnosed N.W. as having suffered abusive head trauma.

Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul J. Powers and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Megan M. Lang prosecuted this case. Please contact Macie Allen if additional information is desired.