HOUSTON – A man has been charged with murder after a boy died from blunt force trauma, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
On Wednesday, the child’s mother, Darrielle Williams, and her boyfriend, Johvonte Johnson, were both charged with injury to a child with serious bodily injury. The charges against Williams were upgraded to murder after the autopsy report revealed that 2-year-old Tevin Jefferson also suffered from multiple injuries, which were in various states of healing, deputies said.
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The charges were upgraded when Williams appeared in court. Johnson did not make her court appearance, deputies said.
What happened
Officials said Jefferson was taken to Houston Northwest Hospital by his mother. Deputies said Tevin was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the emergency room. It was discovered Tevin had suffered trauma to the head, which was not consistent with what Williams told officials, deputies said. She said Tevin had fallen in the bathtub, deputies said.
Deputies said Johnson, who arrived at the hospital shortly after, was not reported to have been present at the time of the incident.
Investigators questioned Williams and Johnson and found that their stories were inconsistent with the facts observed during the investigation, deputies said. The couple both admitted to lying about their initial stories about Tevin falling while with his mother, according to deputies.
Deputies said Johnson, who is not the child’s biological father, told investigators that he beat the child and caused the boy to fall and hit his head, resulting in him becoming unresponsive. Deputies said Johnson took the child to his mother’s place of business where they both conspired to lie about what happened to the child.