A Texas man has been convicted of capital murder for the brutal killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Zevaya Flanagan, in March 2023.
Deontray Flanagan, 31, was found guilty of strangling his daughter while his girlfriend and her father helplessly watched on FaceTime.
The horrific crime occurred after Flanagan picked up Zevaya from daycare and began a 45-minute police chase, during which the toddler was not secured in her seatbelt.
Prosecutors claimed that as Flanagan drove recklessly, Zevaya was tossed around the vehicle, sustaining severe injuries.
Tragically, it was these injuries that led to her death after the chase ended, and she was rushed to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead shortly afterward.
Throughout the chase, Zevaya’s mother, Kairsten Watson, and her grandfather, Curtis Watson, watched in horror as Flanagan beat and strangled the toddler, unable to intervene.
Curtis Watson described the excruciating moment when Flanagan showed him his granddaughter’s lifeless body on the FaceTime call.
“I wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” he said in court. “To have to go through that type of anguish and pain.”

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Prior to the tragedy, Kairsten Watson had tried to warn authorities about Flanagan’s violent threats, but her concerns were not taken seriously.
“I told [authorities] over and over that something was going to be wrong,” she said. “They didn’t believe me.”
The case has brought attention to the failure of systems designed to protect vulnerable children, as well as the devastating impact of domestic violence.
As the trial progresses, the community mourns the loss of young Zevaya, a child whose life was tragically cut short.
Flanagan now faces life in prison, as jurors are deliberating his sentencing. His actions have left a grieving family and a community struggling to understand how something so horrific could happen.