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.
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.
