A 26-year-old Greenfield Park woman wanted on a Sullivan County Court bench warrant tied to a years-old child-abuse case was arrested in Brooklyn on Monday. Shamara Sterling was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant stemming from charges that she failed to appear in court on allegations including attempted assault of a child younger than 7 and endangering the welfare of a child.
The case traces back nearly four years, to December 21, 2022, when Village of Liberty Police responded to a report of child abuse, according to Daily Voice. That investigation led to Sterling being charged with second-degree assault and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, both felonies under New York law, and endangering the welfare of a child, generally a class A misdemeanor.
Sterling was later due in Sullivan County Court to face those charges, plus the additional allegation of attempted assault of a person younger than 7, also a felony. She did not show up, and Sullivan County Court Judge James R. Farrell issued a bench warrant for her arrest on March 5, 2025, the outlet's report notes.
Arrested More Than a Year and a Half Later
That warrant remained active until this week, when Sterling was located and taken into custody in Brooklyn on Monday, October 19, per the same account. She was then brought back before Sullivan County Court and remanded to Sullivan County Jail pending further proceedings, according to The River Reporter.
New York court guidance explains the mechanism behind that kind of arrest: if a defendant fails to show up for a scheduled court date, a judge can order a warrant, and police may then be directed to track that person down, according to New York State Unified Court System guidelines on criminal arraignments. That is effectively what played out here, with the missed 2025 court date setting the wheels in motion for this week's Brooklyn arrest.
What Comes Next
The case now returns to Sullivan County Court, where Sterling faces the original set of charges from the 2022 investigation along with the attempted assault allegation tied to her failure to appear. As with any pending criminal case, the charges against Sterling remain allegations, not evidence of guilt, and she is entitled to a presumption of innocence and a fair trial. Under New York law, the state must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt before any conviction can stand.
