Texas Man Gets Life without Parole for Killing 2-Year-Old Daughter During Police Chase

Deontray Flanagan sentenced to life in prison
Screenshot of Deontray Flanagan

*A Texas man was found guilty of capital murder in his 2-year-old daughter’s death after a 30-mile chase and SWAT standoff in March 2023. Deontray Flanagan was sentenced to life without parole last week, about two years after he killed the child live on social media.

Flanagan, 26, was convicted of capital murder after strangling his daughter, Zevaya, to death while FaceTiming her mother and grandfather during a high-speed chase in Houston. Drama erupted outside the courtroom before the verdict was announced. Flanagan was shackled at the ankles while walking near a CBS news camera, when he suddenly lunged at it, knocking the camera and the photojournalist to the ground. Deputies quickly apprehended him, TooFab reports.

The trial lasted three days and Flanagan reportedly admitted in court that he took his daughter’s life as a form of punishment against the child’s mother, Kairsten Watson, for moving on with another man in a new relationship. Flanagan’s defense team sought reduced charges, but after a few hours of deliberation, the jury found him guilty of capital murder. He was sentenced to a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

A key piece of evidence in the trial was a video showing Watson in the back of a police car on March 20, 2023, watching as her daughter was killed during a FaceTime call while police attempted to persuade Flanagan to stop. ABC 13 reports that on that day, Flanagan allegedly picked up Zevaya from daycare, confronted Watson at her workplace and assaulted her before taking her phone and fleeing. A police chase ensued and Watson’s mother, the child’s grandmother, used her phone to FaceTime Flanagan during the incident.

“She was on his lap, and she was gasping for air, and he had his arm around her neck squeezing tighter,” Watson recalled. “He said, ‘This is what you made me do. All you care about is that man.’ I (was) telling him, ‘No. Stop, please. This is your daughter. She loves you,’ and he’s still doing it.”

The police chase ended when Flanagan crashed into several cars and stopped in a field at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, leading to a 20-minute standoff with SWAT officers. Authorities rushed the toddler from the car to the hospital, but she was pronounced dead.

According to ABC 13, citing charging documents, Flanagan struck the child with and against a blunt object and strangled her to death.

Watson, who had broken up with Flanagan before the child’s killing, noted that she had called authorities multiple times in the days leading up to the tragedy, concerned about Flanagan’s erratic behavior. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded to two calls at Watson’s home, including a terroristic threat on March 15 and a harassment complaint on March 19.

“I told them over and over and over that something was going to be wrong,” Watson said. “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?'”

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