Dad kidnaps daughter, chokes her to death during chase, TX cops say. He’s prison-bound
A dad found guilty of choking his 2-year-old daughter to death during a chase and standoff in Texas has been sentenced to life in prison, officials said.
Deontray Flanagan led police on a 38-mile high-speed chase in Houston in March 2023 with his daughter in the car as the child’s mother watched the toddler’s final moments via FaceTime, according to Harris County deputies and court documents.
A judge handed down the life sentence without the possibility of parole on Jan. 10, KTRK and the Houston Chronicle reported. Flanagan, 26, was convicted of capital murder, according to the outlets.
His attorneys did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Jan. 14.
Court documents filed in December said 2-year-old Zevaya Flanagan died when her father blocked her airways by choking her and hitting her with a blunt object.
Initially, deputies believed the girl “jumped around the car” during the chase that reached over 90 miles per hour because she did not have a seat belt on, deputies said in a March 2023 news conference posted by KHOU.
Before the chase, Flanagan took his daughter out of day care and to a retail store where the child’s mother worked, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said during the news conference.
Despite the mother’s attempts to rescue her daughter, the father took off with Zevaya and the woman’s phone, Gonzalez said.
Deputies tracked the woman’s phone and started to chase Flanagan, Gonzalez said.
The child’s mother FaceTimed Flanagan and tried to convince him to stop the chase, deputies said.
The mother watched her 2-year-old’s final moments as Flanagan swerved into a church parking lot but did not surrender to authorities, deputies said.
“She was on his lap, and she was gasping for air, and he had his arm around her neck squeezing tighter,” the mother told KTRK, adding that she felt “failed by police” in the moments leading up to her daughter’s death.
Following a 20-minute standoff, Flanagan was arrested as first responders attempted to save his daughter’s life, officials said. She was taken to the hospital where she died, Gonzalez said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Flanagan has appealed the guilty verdict, according to court records.
This story was originally published January 14, 2025 at 11:43 AM with the headline "Dad kidnaps daughter, chokes her to death during chase, TX cops say. He’s prison-bound."
