ROCHESTER – The woman accused of hurling racial epithets against a Black autistic child was found guilty of disorderly conduct late Thursday night, capping a dramatic fourday trial after the incident went viral last year.

Shiloh Hendrix, 37, was fined $1,000 by District Judge Christa M. Daily. Hendrix also received a stayed 90-day jail sentence and was ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

Rochester NAACP President Walé Elegbede called the ruling a mixed result, as Hendrix was convicted only of one of the two misdemeanor charges she faced.

“What she did to this child was horrible,” Elegbede said outside the Olmsted County Government Center late Thursday.

At the same time, Elegbede noted this was the first time in recent years someone faced consequences for a racist incident that happened in the area.

Hendrix was found guilty around 11 p.m. after a jury deliberated for more than nine hours.

The verdict capped a contentious trial that drew masked supporters of Hendrix and Jan. 6 rioter Jake Lang to Rochester, internet rumors of a prejudiced juror and multiple confrontations between Hendrix’s attorney Brian Karalus, Daily and prosecutors. Daily twice threatened sanctions against Karalus for his conduct in court.

A bystander confronted Hendrix at a playground at Soldiers Field Memorial Park on April 28, 2025, after she chased an 8-yearold Black autistic child who had grabbed a pack of applesauce out of her bag and used a slur against him.

The bystander’s video of the incident went viral. Hendrix raised more than $800,000 online in the days after the incident after her identity was uncovered. Many of the donations came from people who expressed white nationalist and racist views in comments and user names.

The jury found her innocent of disorderly conduct in her encounter with the child but guilty of the same charge in the encounter with the bystander.

The trial marks the first time the victim’s family has spoken about the incident.

The boy’s father, Shire Jimali, testified through an interpreter that he took his three children to the park at Soldiers Field when he spotted his boy reaching into a bag and taking out what he described as baby food.

Jimali testified his son often tries to bite at food containers and other things rather than eat them. He said he chased the boy up some playground equipment at the same time as Hendrix, who he said looked ready to fight the child.

At one point, Jimali broke down on the stand talking about how people usually react to his son. People often try to help his son, as opposed to what Hendrix did, he said.

He told the court Hendrix started to call his son racial slurs, causing the boy to freeze up. Jimali said Hendrix climbed up the equipment and took the food, later found to be applesauce, from his son before he could get there. The other two families jumped in to help at that point, he said. A bystander confronted Hendrix and recorded the viral video, while another woman gave Jimali a towel to help one of his children who had messed themselves.

Hendrix declined to testify. Prosecutor Nick Schabel declined to comment after the verdict was read, but said the city would issue a statement Friday morning on the case.

Afterward, Hendrix’s attorney Karalus, castigated Schabel, Judge Daily, Jimali and the media after the verdict in an interview with reporters that at times became testy and laced with profanity. He accused Daily of not allowing him to properly defend Hendrix and Jimali of lying in his testimony, among other things.

“This entire thing is a shakedown,” Karalus said. “They ought to be ashamed of themselves.

The prosecutor ought to be ashamed of himself, the judge ought to be ashamed of herself. I had a battle here for four days on a stupid misdemeanor, disorderly conduct. This is nuts. This is crazy.”

Karalus vowed to appeal the case on multiple grounds.

trey.mewes@startribune.com