Houston mom, boyfriend sentenced almost 4 years after toddler was found dead in a bayou
03/02/2024 3:56 pm PST
HOUSTON (TCD) -- A 25-year-old man will face 40 years in prison for dumping his girlfriend's daughter's body in a storm drain, which washed her out into a bayou.
The Harris County District Attorney's Office announced Feb. 28 that Travion Thompson pleaded guilty to injury to a child causing serious bodily injury and was in exchange sentenced to four decades behind bars for the death of 2-year-old Maliyah Bass. Harris County court records show Thompson's girlfriend, Sahara Ervin, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Friday for tampering with evidence.
On the morning of Aug. 22, 2020, Houston Police Department officers responded to Beechnut Street after receiving a call about a missing 2-year-old. Ervin told police she was inside cooking when Bass disappeared from a playground outside their apartment. Police issued an Amber Alert after an unsuccessful search of the area.
The next day, a woman running in southeast Houston discovered Bass' body in a bayou. The girl was pronounced dead at the scene.
Erin and Thompson were arrested in October 2020 and charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury and tampering with evidence.
Charging documents against Ervin alleged she beat Bass with a blunt object and left her naked "in a cold closet overnight." The charges also said she failed to provide medical care to her daughter.
The district attorney's office said, "Although it remains unclear exactly what happened to the toddler, Thompson admitted to dumping her body in a storm drain that led to the bayou where she was found."
Thompson will reportedly be eligible for parole after 20 years.
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