After a brief standoff with police, a father from Houston, Texas, was charged with the murder of his 2-year-old daughter.
According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Deontray Flanagan, 25, picked up his two-year-old daughter Zevaya Flanagan from daycare on Monday at around 9:30 a.m.
According to authorities, Flanagan was identified as someone who had been given the go-ahead to pick up the child. Approximately 45 minutes later, he went to the Walmart where the child’s mother works.
Before reportedly assaulting her, taking her cell phone, and driving away from the store in a red Camaro with the child, Flanagan and the girl’s mother got into a fight in the store.
Flanagan’s cell phone GPS allowed his family and the police to follow his location. When deputies found Flanagan at Greens Road and Interstate 45, he fled.
During a press conference, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez stated that while Flanagan was being pursued, the mother tried to get him to stop using Facetime but was unable.
Dispatchers notified family members that the child was still in the car and that the man was physically abusing the child; this information was relayed to deputies.
Law enforcement officers from several local agencies helped halt Flanagan’s car, and the chase ended when he tried to drive through a field, and his car broke down.
Negotiators spoke with Flanagan after the automobile stopped, and she revealed that the youngster was in “very horrible shape,” according to Gonzalez.
SWAT personnel then approached the car and apprehended Flanagan. The unresponsive child was also taken out of the car, and paramedics immediately started CPR. Life Flight flew the infant to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where she passed away.
Investigators from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office arrived, and after officers detained Flanagan and brought him to the homicide unit of the agency, he gave detectives a statement.
After being charged with murder, Flanagan was lodged in the Harris County Prison.
