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WANTED: Houston man accused of shooting his pregnant girlfriend to death

Kwanmaine Travion Boyd, 25, is wanted for capital murder in the shooting death of Cavanna Smith, 25. (Image obtained from the Texas Department of Public Safety)

HOUSTON – Houston police need the public’s assistance getting a murder suspect off the streets. The criminal allegedly abducted his pregnant girlfriend before fatally shooting her in the head.

Kwanmaine Travion Boyd, 25, is wanted for capital murder in the shooting death of Cavanna Smith, 25.

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Investigators determined Smith was 4.5 weeks pregnant when she was shot to death on Oct. 6.

At around 6:42 a.m. that morning, Smith, worried for her safety, told her sister she was at a location near the intersection of Wipprecht Street and Kelley Street -- at or near Boyd’s home, according to court documents.

“I’m at this location getting my money if anything happens to me,” Smith wrote in the text to her sister.

Minutes later, Smith called her friend. Smith’s friend told investigators she received a call from Smith’s phone but could not make out who was speaking or what they were saying. She heard a lot of noise on the other end of line before the call ended.

Following the call, Smith texted the friend, claiming she had been kidnapped.

In disbelief, her friend wrote back “Why are you playing? Stop playing with me,” to which Smith replied “I’m not I’m in the back of Kwan truck.”

Smith’s last text message was sent to her friend at around 6:44 a.m. : “He got my money and don’t wanna give it to me.”

By 6:45 a.m. all calls to Smith’s phone were sent directly to voicemail, phone records show.

About 10 minutes later, Smith and a man believed to be Boyd were seen arguing in the 800 block of Reid St., about two to three miles from Boyd’s residence. During the fight, Smith hit the back of a passing truck in an attempt to flag down help. She asked the driver to call 911. The driver saw the man holding a gun and decided not to get out of his vehicle and drove away, according to court documents.

Residents in the area reported seeing the man shoot Smith around 7 a.m. After Smith collapsed to the ground, the man stood over her for a moment before fleeing the scene in a white pickup truck, documents state.

Officers responded to the reports and found Smith lying in the roadway. She was pronounced dead the scene.

Smith’s vehicle was found parked outside Boyd’s home.

During a search of Smith’s residence, investigators found a green greeting card addressed to Boyd and dated Oct. 3. Inside the card was a message which read “Kwan, I know this isn’t what we expected but WE ARE expecting!!!” Next to the greeting card were two positive pregnancy tests and an ultrasound image with Smith’s name on it, documents state.

In a nightstand in Smith’s bedroom, officers found several prescription receipts addressed to Boyd along with a Sept. 15 receipt from an Academy Sports + Outdoors location in Harris County. The items listed on the receipt included a 9mm firearm, 9mm 124-grain ammunition and 5.56 x 45mm ammunition -- the same ammunition found at the crime scene, according to investigators.

In early November, investigators found Boyd’s truck abandoned in the driveway of an unoccupied residence in the 5400 block of Airport Boulevard. Boyd was nowhere to be found.

On Nov. 9, Boyd was charged with capital murder and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Boyd stands 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighs 165 pounds, and has brown eyes and black hair.

Documents show Boyd has a criminal history with charges dating back to at least 2017 for evading arrest and possession of marijuana.

This case is being investigated by Crime Stoppers and the Houston Police Department’s Homicide Division. Anyone with information in this case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.


About the Author
Briana Zamora-Nipper headshot

Briana Zamora-Nipper joined the KPRC 2 digital team in 2019. When she’s not hard at work in the KPRC 2 newsroom, you can find Bri drinking away her hard earned wages at JuiceLand, running around Hermann Park, listening to crime podcasts or ransacking the magazine stand at Barnes & Noble.

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