Two men sentenced to life in prison for separate crimes committed against toddlers

On August 2023, Deontray Flanagan picked up his 2 year old daughter, Zevaya, from daycare. He then drove to the workplace of his ex-girlfriend — Zevaya’s mother — and demanded that she hand over her cellphone, then proceeded to physically assault her before fleeing with their daughter. A high speed police chase soon followed; during the pursuit, Deontray was on a FaceTime call with Zevaya’s mother and her grandfather, in which Deontray demanded she share her passcode so that he could check her phone. He soon after became enraged and proceeded to violently beat and choke his daughter, while blaming the mother for having moved on romantically after their breakup as the motive for the crime. The chase ended when Deontray crashed into other vehicles, and after a 20 minute standoff, surrendered himself to police. Zevaya was rushed to the hospital, but did not survive the attack.
Deontray’s trial took place on January 2025. He exhibited violent behavior during this time period, as he flew into a rage when he spotted Zevaya’s mom siting with a new romantic partner in the courtroom; he also attacked a news cameraman as he walked away from the courtroom.
Deontray Flanagan was found guilty of capital murder and was sentenced to life without parole.

In the early morning hours of August 2022, 3 year old girl named L.G. got out of her apartment in the Greenspoint area, and walked to an upstair neighbor’s unit where a gathering was taking place. After leaving the event, L.G. was lured to the vehicle of 50 year old Holman Hernandez who was holding her cat. Holman proceeded to drive away with L.G. and took her to various stores, before checking into a motel. He then called his wife, and told her he would not be able to come home as his vehicle had been stolen. His wife reported that she heard a small child crying in the background, as well as another woman speaking.
Upon waking up at approximately 5 A.M., L.G.’s parents noticed their front door was open and called police. Holman and the victim were located 12 hours later at the motel, where Holman was found in bed with the child wearing only his underwear, while the child wore a diaper and a pajama shirt.
During the May 2025 trial, the courtroom heard testimony from his daughter who testified that Holman had sexually abused her when she was just 8 years old. And although medical examinations performed on L.G. did not provide any conclusive evidence of sexual abuse, Holman’s semen was found on the bedsheets.
Despite Holman’s claims that he was simply worried for the child’s safety after spotting her alone — and emphasizing that there was no physical proof that L.G. had been abused — as well Holman’s wife supporting her husband and asking for leniency, Holman was found guilty of aggravated kidnapping and sentenced to life in prison (with the possibility of parole).