A Texas father is in police custody after allegedly brutally killing his young daughter Monday while on a FaceTime call with the child's mother. Deontray Flanagan, 25, and his child's mother, Kairsten Watson, were allegedly involved in a domestic dispute in Houston that led to Flanagan reportedly taking the child from day care and subsequently killing her. Watson is speaking out about the violent attack.
The mother alleges that the Harris County Sheriff's Office knew Flanagan was dangerous but that he was not apprehended. She believes the attack could have been prevented and her daughter, 2-year-old Zevaya Flanagan, would be alive today.
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Zevaya's mother recounted the attack.
Watson told Fox 26 that Flanagan checked their daughter out of her day care and took her to Walmart, where he confronted Watson, who worked at the store. She claimed he wanted her phone and passcode, and Flanagan allegedly threatened to harm the child if she did not give it to him.
"He just wanted my phone. He's screaming at me telling me what is the passcode, tell me the passcode, or she's going to get hurt; and I'm telling him the passcode over and over, but I guess it just wasn't enough," Watson said.
He reportedly got the phone and took off with Zevaya.
Watson told fox 26 that Flanagan allegedly took off with the toddler and FaceTimed her during the police chase. She claims that the child was beaten and bloody, and he was reportedly choking her. She also accused him of saying it was her fault.
"Her face was just covered in blood. He hit her with something really hard, and then he called me on FaceTime, and he showed me. He choked her on FaceTime," Watson told the news outlet. "I said, 'Tray stop., that is your daughter, stop, she loves you.' His exact words were you only love that man, you did this to her."
Watson tried to get police to her daughter quickly.
The grieving mother said she reportedly tried to get the police to her daughter as fast as she could by showing them the FaceTime call, ABC 13 reported.
"I am telling the officers, 'look at this FaceTime, move in, move,'" Watson said. "They sat there and said they have to get everyone ready, and they have to put on their shields and all this extra stuff like he wasn't killing her on this FaceTime call. They waited at least 20 minutes to move in."
A high-speed chase ensued.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez noted in a tweet that deputies responded to a domestic disturbance call at W. FM 1960. When they arrived, a vehicle chase began and continued for more than 30 miles, with Flanagan hitting cars and sometimes driving the wrong way. The vehicle stopped at Stuebner Airline Road and Veterans Memorial Drive. A standoff began with Flanagan until police took him into custody.
The discovery of his nearly lifeless daughter caused the scene to take a gruesome turn. The toddler was airlifted from the scene to a nearby hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
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Watson contacted authorities twice in the week before the tragedy.
Per ABC 13, the Harris County Sheriff's Office reported that deputies responded to a "terroristic attack" on March 15 and again on March 19 when Watson alleged telephone harassment.
"I told them over and over and over that something was going to be wrong," Watson told ABC 13. "They could have at least tried to find him, but even with his past, no. I said, 'Are y'all going to wait until something happens to her?'"
According to the sheriff's office, a responding deputy contacted the Harris County District Attorney's office, which concluded there was insufficient evidence to pursue a criminal charge against Flanagan.
Watson reportedly showed text messages to the deputy but claimed they were blown off. "They didn't believe me," she said. "They thought I was just making this up, and he was the father."
The sheriff's office is conducting an internal investigation.
"The investigation will include a thorough review of the timeline, camera footage, dispatch communications, and radio traffic. Both HCSO and the Houston Police Department responded to the scene," Gonzalez shared in a statement obtained by ABC 13. "Both agencies coordinate regularly and this review is being conducted to assess all actions taken and to improve future collaboration."
Flanagan has a lengthy criminal history.
Flanagan's rap sheet dates back to 2017, when he was arrested for evading arrest, according to ABC 13. A second arrest came in 2018 for an assault that caused bodily injury to a family member. Later that year, he was arrested for criminal mischief after driving a car into a home.
Watson is charged with first-degree murder, and although he was originally being held on a bond originally set for $1 million, it was changed to $2 million during a hearing Wednesday, according to ABC 13. The charges against him could be upgraded to capital murder, depending on the results of the toddler's autopsy, prosecutors with the Harris County District Attorney's Office said.
A GoFundMe account has been established to help Zevaya's family.
