A Father, Deontray Flanagan, Choked His 2 Year Old daughter, Zevaya Marie Flanagan, To Death While on FaceTime with her Mother

A Father Choked His 2 Year Old To Death While on FaceTime with her Mother.

The mother of a 2-year-old Texas girl who authorities say was killed by her father said the suspect Facetimed her while he was choking the child. 

Deontray Flanagan allegedly went into a Harris County Walmart store around 10 a.m. Monday after picking up Zevaya Marie Flanagan from daycare, Fox Houston reported.

Authorities said the girl’s mother worked at the retail store. The two adults argued and Flanagan assaulted her and took her phone and left with the girl, authorities said.

Afterward, he allegedly threatened to harm the child if her mother didn’t do as she was told. 

“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,” Kairsten Watson, the child’s mother, told the news outlet. Initially, authorities said Flanagan told them that 2-year-old Zevaya Flanagan was injured due to her “jumping around the car” during the chase. But, according to court documents that were released more than 24 hours after his arrest, the child was struck “with or against a blunt object” and then choked.

Documents also said Flanagan was on Facetime with the girl’s mother, demanding the password to her cellphone, while he choked their child.

It was also confirmed in the court documents that Zevaya was not restrained in a car seat and Flanagan did not seek medical attention, which ultimately resulted in her death.

The entire incident started around 10:15 a.m. on Monday after deputies responded to reports of a family disturbance on West FM 1960.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Flanagan went to a private daycare and removed his daughter before driving to the mother’s job at a local Walmart. There, deputies said Flanagan confronted his child’s mother and demanded her cellphone while threatening to harm the toddler.

After hanging up with the girl’s mother, court documents say Flanagan facetimed his stepfather and told him that his daughter “was gone.”

Once the chase finally came to a stop, after 45 minutes, SWAT officers surrounded the vehicle and arrested Flanagan.

Officers then located Zevaya, who they said was unconscious and unresponsive. The girl was transported to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.