HOUSTON – The mother of Hazana Anderson -- who claimed she’d lost her daughter in a park in 2018 -- has been sentenced by a Galveston County jury to a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine in connection with her daughter’s death.
Tiaundra Christon was found guilty of tampering with a human corpse.
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KPRC 2 covered the story extensively as the search for the girl became a criminal matter.
In a news release about the case, Galveston County Criminal District Attorney Jack Roady shared an account of what law enforcement said happened back in 2018.
Authorities said Christon traveled with Hazana from College Station to Houston to visit her boyfriend, co-defendant Kenny Hewett. Christon, Hazana, and Hewett stayed together at a Houston Downtowner Inn, authorities said.
According to the news release about the case, when Christon returned to College Station, friends saw glimpses of Christon with a child, whom they believed to be Christon’s daughter, and Wal-Mart video surveillance recorded footage of a child with Christon. Then, on Oct. 28, 2018, authorities said Christon called 911, claiming that her daughter went missing in Gabbard Park. A massive search and rescue operation for the child ensued in College Station.
However, Roady’s news release said the search for Hazana turned into a criminal investigation once officers from College Station police discovered a life-sized doll wearing clothing identical to the description of what Christon claimed her missing child to be wearing, in a trash can across the street from where Christon parked her car.
According to the news release, officers later learned that Christon created and carried the doll around with her after she returned from Houston, pretending it was her baby. Christon later confessed that her child had actually died in the hotel room in Houston after the baby suffered physical and sexual abuse from Hewett and Christon. Hazana’s cause of death was undetermined, authorities said via the news release.
After her death in the hotel, authorities said Christon and Hewett took the child to Texas City and dumped her body in Moses Lake.
Authorities said Christon led law enforcement officers to Hazana’s remains in Texas City.
Christon’s trial began on Tuesday, December 8. Christon pleaded not guilty to her charge of tampering with a human corpse. Her co-defendant, Hewett, pleaded guilty to the same charge in November 2019 and was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison.
Law enforcement’s news release said on Dec. 11 that the jury found Christon guilty after about 20 minutes of deliberations. The jury deliberated for about 40 minutes on Dec. 14 for the punishment. Under Texas law, Christon is required to serve at least 15 percent of her sentence before she is eligible for parole.