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Parents charged in death of 2-month-old son
Another disturbing case involving parents accused in the death of their own child. This is the case of two parents facing charges in the death of their two-month-old son.
HOUSTON - A Houston couple is facing felony charges in the death of their 2-month-old son last year.
Parents charged after 2-month-old baby's death
Demari Ossain Alston, 27, is being charged with capital murder. His girlfriend, 22-year-old Trinity Nyomi Perez, is facing a felony charge of injury to a child.
Perez's bond has been set to $250,000 and Alston's bond is set at $2 million.
Demari Alston
Court records allege Alston committed the offense of capital murder against the 2-month-old at 1810 Main St., and Perez committed the offense of injury to a child - serious bodily injury at the same address, which is their apartment.
Zayn Alston passed away on Sept. 11, 2024, at 2-months-old.
According to court records, on Sept. 9, 2024, investigators were assigned to investigate the injuries of Zayn, who was found unresponsive.
Trinity Perez
According to court records, Zayn was treated at two different emergency rooms for injuries. Court records suggest the injuries were highly concerning because of physical abuse that started when he was 10 days old.
Court records say the autopsy report for Zayn says he had multiple skull fractures, a very soft hemogenic brain, numerous rib fractures in different healing stages and bruising to the back of his head.
First report of injuries
The backstory:
Zayn Alston was born July 6, 2024. According to records, the first report of injuries was July 16, 2024, when Zayn was 10 days old. This report alarmed CPS. Court records suggest these injuries were a fractured arm, clavicle and ribs.
CPS assigned a monitor, which was Zayn Alston's maternal great-grandmother. According to court records, the parents, Alston and Perez, agreed to not have any overnight visitation with the two-month old as of July 31, 2024. They were not allowed to see the child between July 16 and July 31. Court records state the maternal great-grandmother agreed to move into the parents' home and supervise all contact with Zayn and his parents.
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Zayn hospitalized on Sept. 8, 2024
While an ongoing investigation by CPS and detectives from July was taking place, Zayn was brought to the hospital on Sept. 8, 2024 with new injuries, and that is what prompted detectives to investigate. This investigation led to the current charges against Alston and Perez.
The 2-month-old was taken to the hospital first on Sept. 8, 2024 and died from injuries on Sept. 11, 2024.
According to records, a pediatric critical care social worker met with detectives on the night of Sept. 9, 2024. The pediatric critical care social worker told detectives that 2-month-old Zayn was brought to the hospital on Sept. 8, 2024.
According to court records, at the hospital, Zayn was discovered with a skull fracture, brain bleed, retinal hemorrhaging, and progressing towards brain death. Court records state the social worker told detectives these injuries were highly concerning for child abuse.
During the investigation, court records suggest Perez told detectives she did not have any complications during her pregnancy when she gave birth to Zayn.
What they're saying:
According to court records, on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, the day Zayn was taken to the hospital, Perez arrived at her and Alston's apartment at 8 a.m. with Alston. Perez told detectives she spent the day at the apartment, but around 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. she was on her cellphone and Alston was alone with Zayn in their bedroom. Court records say Perez told investigators the maternal great-grandmother, the CPS monitor, was also at the apartment as required, but in a spare room.
Perez told investigators during this visit Alston told her he tripped while holding Zayn around 5:30 p.m. Court records say Perez denied family violence with Alston, describing him as a good dad.
However, when questioned about the initial set of injuries from July 2024, court records suggest Perez provided a vague answer.
Alston told detectives he was the last person to see Zayn alive, according to court records. Alston cited an allergic reaction as to why Zayn was brought to the hospital on Sept. 8, 2024 when questioned by detectives.
According to court records, Alston confirmed he was home with Perez, Zayn and the maternal great-grandmother. Alston also confirmed he was holding Zayn between the hours of 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. walking around the apartment, when he forgot his cell phone in his bedroom. According to court records, he claimed that while walking back into the bedroom, he fell over, stumbling on his shoe. Court records suggest Alston told detectives he never saw Zayn's head hit the wall after he tripped, and Zayn was still in his arms not crying.
Evidence pulled from phones
Dig deeper:
Court records also suggest detectives reviewed digital evidence extradited from Alston's iPhone, including deleted search history on the night of Sept. 8, 2024, the night Zayn was taken to the hospital.
According to court records, the searches include: "My baby wont wake up but she is breathing" at 9:48 p.m., "Cant wake baby but still breathing. Normal?" at 10:06 p.m., "2 month old baby hard to wake up," 11:00 p.m. "What happens if your 2 month old doesn't have a pulse?" at 11:02 p.m., "Does infant CPR really work? Can it save a baby who has stopped breaking," at 11:04 p.m. "Will you go to jail if you find your child unresponsive" and "My 2 month old died is anyone getting charged," and "best Houston defense lawyers child abuse cases."
Court records suggest there is a 39-minute gap between the time of the first deleted internet search and the first outgoing 911 call on Alston's phone.
Court records also say Alston deleted a Google search, "How to pass a lie detector test" dating Sept. 10, 2024 at 3:40 p.m. while Zayn was in the hospital – the day before he died.
According to documents, detectives also reviewed call details and records for the phone number associated with the maternal great-grandmother. Records suggest there was activity near the maternal great-grandmother's home in Friendswood, Texas and an incoming call from Perez with a duration of 1 minute and 34 seconds at 10:34 p.m. Court records say, after reviewing this phone conversation, records suggest the maternal great-grandmother was not with Zayn as required by CPS the night of Sept. 8, when Perez and Alston took Zayn to the fire station and hospital.
Court records state that a set of deleted text messages from Aug. 15, 2024, on Alston's phone was recovered by detectives. In this set of messages provided in court documents, Perez was questioning Alston about scratches and blood on Zayn's clothes, and Perez told Alston he was too rough, but he said it was not intentional.
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Detectives reviewed a text message between the maternal great-grandmother mother to Perez, according to records. In the messages provided in court documents, the maternal great-grandmother questioned why Zayn had bite marks on his face, sending a picture to Perez, who responded with, "A bite mark would have teeth prints." Court records suggest Perez forwarded a screenshot of the conversation and photo to Alston, who suggested, "Tobacco prolly breaking his face out, He had the same marks last time when I kissed him. Them lip marks. Not bite marks. He might be breaking out."
Court records also suggest detectives reviewed a phone conversation between Alston and Perez on Sept. 4. The documents claim the pair were discussing Alston's dislike of Perez's reaction towards him, and Perez responding sharing her concern as to why Zayn has a "chin full of blood and blood on his bottle."
Detectives reportedly reviewed three videos of Alston recording Zayn while holding and talking to him. During each video, Alston reportedly is looking at Zayn and holding him, telling him to fix his face and ask who he is looking at.
On Sept. 9, 2024, at 12:41 p.m., one day after Zayn was taken to the hospital, detectives claim they reviewed a message thread between Perez and Alston which suggested Perez informed Alston the detectives were at the hospital. Alston allegedly responded, "Okay remember bumped head around 5-6pm trippin over shoe but he was still active," and "We both went to Walmart," court documents state. Perez responded, "K," and Alston replied, "Delete thread … or just them messages."
Lastly, court records state detectives discovered a conversation on Perez's phone with Alston on Sept. 10, 2024, the day a reenactment was held at the couple's apartment. Court records state Alston told Perez, "When we do the reenactment go to the end of the couch by the balcony."
Investigation leads to charges
Court records suggest detectives reviewed subpoenaed medical records of Zayn's treatment at Memorial Herman.
Based on court documents, its recorded Zayn arrived to Memorial Herman on Sept. 8, 2024, where he received 45 minutes of CPR prior to arriving and 20 minutes of continued CPR. The 2-month-old was hypothermic upon arrival, placed on a ventricular fibrillation requiring the delivery of shock for abnormal heart rate. Zayn was also intubated, and received a blood transfusion.
According to the court documents, medical records show Zayn had findings of a hypoxic brain injury, swelling and subarachnoid hemorrhages along with a left parietal skull fracture with overlying scalp swelling and underlying hemorrhage. Zayn's ophthalmology exam reportedly showed bilateral retinal hemorrhages.
On Sept. 11, 2024, after completing brain death tests, Dr. O'Connor declared the time of death for Zayn at 12:41 p.m. at 67-days-old.
Court records state the autopsy ruled the manner of death as a homicide, and the cause of death from multiple blunt force injuries to the head, torso and extremities. The autopsy report documented evidence of at least four traumatic events of blunt force trauma.
Based on text conversations between Perez and Alston and the previous CPS investigation and safety plan, detectives had reason to believe Perez was aware and knew Alston was allegedly causing injury to Zayn and failed to report it and protect Zayn, and she did not ensure Alston was no longer around Zayn, court documents claim.
The Source: The information in this article comes from court documents.