A Texas man has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of murdering his 2-year-old daughter by strangling her during a high-speed police chase while FaceTiming her terrified mother and grandfather.
Deontray Flanagan, 26, was found guilty of capital murder in the 2023 death of his daughter, Zevaya Marie Flanagan, in Houston. The jury took less than two hours to deliver the verdict. .. Continue reading here ▶
Zevaya’s family expressed relief at the conviction. “You may have taken her last breath, but you cannot kill her spirit, her memory, or her name,” her grandfather, Curtis Watson, said to KHOU.
Flanagan displayed violent behavior even in court, shoving a news camera and injuring a photojournalist before deputies restrained him.
The trial, which lasted three days, included heartbreaking testimony from Zevaya’s mother, Kairsten Watson. A video was shown in court of her watching helplessly from the back of a police car as her daughter was killed during the chase.
“Please stop – that is our daughter,” Watson pleaded during the call, as reported by the *Houston Chronicle.* She testified, saying, “There was nothing I could do about it.”
As previously reported, Watson recounted the horrifying call in an interview. “He called me on FaceTime, and he showed me. He choked her on FaceTime,” she told KRIV. “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.’”
On March 20, 2023, Flanagan picked up Zevaya from daycare and went to a nearby Walmart where Watson worked.
He confronted her, accusing her of talking to other men. Flanagan demanded her phone and login information, threatening to harm their daughter.
Watson complied but was unable to rescue her daughter. Flanagan hit Watson in the face and fled with the child.
Police quickly began tracking the location of the phones and engaged in a 45-minute, 30-mile chase. Flanagan drove dangerously, hitting other vehicles and driving the wrong way. During the chase, he continued to contact Watson via FaceTime, demanding passwords.
“I know in her mind she probably was just like, ‘What did I do? Why are you doing this to me?’” Watson later told KHOU.
Curtis Watson recalled the unbearable moment when Flanagan showed him his granddaughter’s lifeless body. “I wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” he said. “To have to go through that type of anguish and pain.”
The chase ended with a standoff when police stopped Flanagan’s car. SWAT moved in after 20 minutes and found Zevaya unresponsive. She was flown to a hospital, but it was too late.
Flanagan was unharmed but now faces life in prison without parole for the horrific crime.
