DETROIT – A mother has been sentenced to decades in prison after she gave her son drugs while they were alone in the child’s bedroom at their Detroit home, which caused him to go into cardiac arrest and die.
Chavon Caprice Boone, 42, of Detroit, was sentenced to 22-40 years in prison on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (You can watch the full sentencing in the video at the top of this article.)
The prosecutor said the boy’s father was not present for the sentencing because he’s had a difficult time dealing with his son’s death, and has broken down in tears on every phone call they’ve had.
An uncle, on the 4-year-old’s father’s side, was the only family member who spoke during the sentencing.
“The life of an innocent and defenseless baby has been taken away, and as parents, we are supposed to be the number one protectors of our children,” the uncle said.
He said he mourns the death of his nephew daily, and talked about how his brother Anthony hasn’t been able to see his other son, and every time that he sees their sister’s son, “he’s heartbroken because Anthony Jr. and my sister’s son look so much alike and every time he sees him he’s reminded that he will never see his son again.”
The uncle also said that his family has nowhere to go to visit the 4-year-old and said that was because Boone decided to donate his body to science.
However, Boone’s defense attorney, Wendy Barnwell, later said that Boone had no say in any contribution to science because she “believes CPS was involved and there was termination of parental rights that were pending that eventually went through.”
Barnwell said Boone had never had any felony or misdemeanor convictions before this, and she was hopeful that she would have received a lesser sentence agreement due to that.
The defense attorney also said that Boone “suffered immeasurably,” and “couldn’t sleep, became psychotic, and couldn’t forgive herself, and called the police.”
Barnwell said Boone’s extensive drug history led up to her son’s death and noted that she believed the child’s father contributed to the severity of her drug use.
“Sleepless nights led to the worst decision a parent can make,” Barnwell said. She conceded that she made that mistake, she came clean about it, she called the police, she’s sitting here," Barnwell said.
Boone had ignored questions from her attorney and the judge earlier in the hearing, but spoke up right before the judge read her sentence.
“One last time, Ms. Boone, is there anything you’d like to say?” the judge asked.
“I didn’t do anything on purpose,” Boone said as she softly cried. “I loved my son with all my heart.”
The judge said the case was “sadly unique” and reminded him of the slogan “it takes a village to raise a child,” but said in this situation, “it took a village to cause the demise of the child.”
She was sentenced to 22 to 40 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections and was given credit for 830 days served.
This comes after Boone’s guilty plea was entered on Wednesday, July 30, 2025.
Here’s background information on the case:
4-year-old went into cardiac arrest
In the evening on April 10, 2022, Boone was alone with her 4-year-old son, Anthony Scott Upshaw Jr., at their home in the 18500 block of Fitzgerald Court.
Police said the boy went into cardiac arrest, and his father woke up to Boone screaming.
When the father went into Upshaw’s bedroom, the boy was unresponsive.
He called 911 and administered chest compressions to his son.
Fentanyl found in boy’s system
The boy was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police said the medical examiner found fentanyl in the boy’s system.
Mother turns herself in
On Friday, May 19, 2023, Boone called 911 and turned herself in for her son’s murder. The mother was accused of giving her son drugs while they were in the child’s bedroom, which caused him to go into cardiac arrest, according to police.
“There was an unexpected turn of events that brought to us to these charges,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said. “Everyone deserves not to be forgotten. This child is no longer a cold case statistic. We will bring justice to Anthony and his family.”
Mother charged
Boone was arrested after she turned herself in and was charged with felony murder, first-degree child abuse, and delivery of a narcotic causing death.
The murder charge was reduced to a second-degree murder as part of the plea agreement.
She was arraigned on Sunday, May 21, in the 36th District Court and remanded to jail.