UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — A Suitland man who pleaded guilty in the death of his then-girlfriend’s 2-year-old son has been sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Standing before a courtroom packed full of family members, Clifton Bernard’s defense attorney, Allen Wolf, described him as a “mild, quiet, childlike” man who snapped.
Bernard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2013 death of 2-year-old Jamir Shipe. Prosecutors say Bernard was babysitting the toddler when he became angry and slammed the boy’s head through drywall and then tried to hide the indent in the wall from police. Jamir died the next day.
“I’ll never get to see his first day of school. I’ll never get to see him go to college. So the lasting effect is just gut-wrenching,” said Jamir’s paternal grandmother Lydia Polk.
Her son is now the father of twin boys, one of whom takes after Jamir. She says it’s hard for his father Jamaal because Jamir will never know his brothers.
Prosecutors say Jamir’s mother, Courtney Shipe, couldn’t bring herself to be in the same courtroom with Bernard and didn’t attend his sentencing. Wearing an orange jumpsuit and a long sleeve white T-shirt ripped at the elbow, Bernard looked toward the judge’s bench when he apologized for his actions. It was an apology Polk says she found lacking.
Bernard faced a maximum sentence of 70 years, but a judge found he will serve 50 years in prison including time served for what she called a “crime beyond comprehension.” Bernard will serve five years supervised probation after his sentence is completed.
“Although the family is happy to some degree with the verdict, no amount of time given to Mr. Clifton can account and make up for our loss,” Jamir’s uncle, Isaac Watson said in a statement.
Allen suggested in court that Bernard suffered from undiagnosed mental illness, including bipolar syndrome and schizophrenia at the time, all which Jamir’s mother was unaware of.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly noted Jamir’s name as Jamar, due to an inconsistency in court documents.
