Killer Dads: Fathers who ended their children's lives in situations involving child custody, visitation, and/or child support
TEXAS
Anderson County
Father: ROBERT ROBERTSON III
Victim(s): Nikki Curtis (2 years)
Date of Death: February 2002
Felon father with history of parole violations, alcohol abuse granted sole custody of daughter. Three months later, child is dead. Also evidence of sexual abuse.
Austin County
Father: NICHOLAS WILLIAMS
Victim(s): Alaney Queen (2 years)
Date of Death: May 2011
Father arrested in daughter’s beating death after girlfriend called 911. Custodial arrangements not explained, though it is said that mother lived out of state. No update found as of October 2014.
Bexar County
* Father: DAVID BRASSE
Victim(s): Sarah Brasse (8 years)
Date of Death: 2009
Custodial dad had numerous allegations of child abuse, neglect which CPS failed to investigate. Non-custodial mother, who had been forced into supervised visitation, was not even informed there were allegations that had been reported to CPS. Girl died from untreated appendicitis, and was found in the father's filthy house already in a state of rigor mortis. All criminal charges against the father were eventually dropped. In 2014, a report ruled that CPS management was not responsible for the girl's death, which triggered a lot of political outrage.
Father: NICHOLAS ANTHONY CLIFTON
Victim(s): Jeremiah Omar Young (4 months)
Date of Death: April 2012
Infant son died during father's visitation. Father allegedly left infant alone in the home for several hours, and when he returned home the baby was dead. Father sentenced to ten years in prison in July 2014.
Father: DOMINIQUE REED
Victim(s): Zaniyah Reed (2 months)
Date of Death: October 2010
Father accused of killing infant during visitation. As late as January 2014, father was still out on bail and had not been brought to trial. In March 2015, sentenced to life in prison (with possibility of parole in 30 years) after being convicted of felony murder.
Calhoun County
Father: JONATHAN COMACHO
Victim(s): Zavier Comacho (4 years), Sierra Comacho (1 year), Faith Comacho (3 months). Mother Dulce Cumpean-Comacho
Date of Death: January 2015
Father with history of "child custody issues" arrested for the arson-murders of his three children and their mother. Victims reportedly stabbed to death.
City of Dallas/Dallas County
Father: JOHN DAVID BATTAGLIA
Victim(s): Faith (9 years), Liberty (6 years)
Date of Death: May 2001
Father with history of domestic violence murders two daughter during custody/visitation time, while mother was on the phone. Mother had previously reported him to his probation officer for violating her protection order. Father convicted, scheduled to be executed in 2016.
Father: JOSEPH BLOCKER
Victim(s): Koda Blocker (4 years)
Date of Death: December 2014
Mother did not live in the home and was "out of the state" at the time of the boy's death. Parents had reportedly "battled" over custody and child support over the years. Father charged with capital murder after boy died after being put through the washer. Father lived with his girlfriend and her child.
Father: MICHAEL RAY JAMES
Victim(s): Jonathan James (10 years)
Date of Death: July 2011
Boy died from dehydration after allegedly being deliberately deprived of water for five days. The boy and his twin brother were visiting their father under a summer visitation arrangement. Reported that the boys did not want to go. Father sentenced to 20 years in prison in May 2013.
Father: NAIM RASOOL MUHAMMAD
Victim(s): Elijah (3 years), Naim (5 years)
Date of Death: August 2011
Father charged with kidnapping boys from custodial mother and drowning them. Convicted in May 2013 on two counts of capital murder.
Father: AARON RAMSEY
Victim: Johnathan Ramsey (11 years)
Date of Death: March 2011
Custodial father, step charged in starvation death of son. Father shut off all contact with New Mexico mother, who had been trying to regain custody. Father found guilty of "severely injury a child" and sentenced to life in prison.
Denton County
Father: DUKE WATROUS
Victim(s): Ashley Watrous (10 years)
Date of Death: December 2009
Custodial father charged in shooting death. Father convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 12 years of prison in April 2011.
Donley County
*Father: ROBERT MONROE BABCOCK
Victim(s): Chance Mark Jones (4 years)
Date of Death: January 2011
Custodial father charged with capital murder. Boy beaten to death just weeks after father gained custody. Father had previously been uninvolved in child’s life. In June 2012, father convicted of son's death and sentenced to life without parole.
Gaines/Yoakum Counties
Father: MARIO ROMERO
Victim(s): Mitchell Romero (3 years), unnamed mother
Date of Death: October- November 2009
Mother reportedly murdered by father during child abduction. Son later killed in car accident. Father finally apprehended and arrested in March 2014.
Galveston County
Father: DEREK WELLS
Victim(s): Dominick Wells (2 years)
Date of Death: June 2014
Father with history of domestic violence refused to return son to mother after visitation. Boy later died after being found unconscious in a garage where he was living with his father.
Guadalupe County
*Father: DAVID BRASSE
Victim(s): Sarah Brasse (8 years)
Date of Death: February 2009
Custodial dad accused of medical neglect in death of daughter. Mother had been trying to regain custody since 2007. In September 2010, father indicted on charges of injury to a child. CPS had previously investigated the case two years before child’s death. (ALSO SEE BEXAR COUNTY)
Harris County/Houston Area
Father: JOSHUA CLAY
Victim(s): Jayden Clay (2 months)
Date of Death: March 2013
Father charged with capital murder; baby's skull fractured during father's visitation. No update as of October 2014.
Father: ALEX MCGOWEN DUNCAN
Victim(s): Tekerrious “TK” Jackson
Date of Death: July 2010
Father charged with murder in beating death of son during summer visitation. No update as of October 2014.
Father: RODERICK FOUNTAIN
Victim(s): Kendrick Jackson (3 years)
Date of Death: April 2006
Father had custody when son allegedly “disappeared.” Though no body has ever been found, father convicted of felony murder in October 2011, partly based on witness descriptions of his violent abuse of the boy.
*Father: MOHAMMAD GOHER
Victim(s): Saeed (12 years), Saedah (14 years), Aisha (7 years)
Date of Death: September 2010
Despite an extensive history of domestic violence, father granted unsupervised visitation. Children shot to death while sleeping. Father charged with capital murder. Pleaded guilty in January 2014 and sentenced to life without parole.
Father: MARQUIEZ PRATT
Victim(s): Jaiden (4 years)
Date of Death: February 2013
Boy shot to death in what was presumed to be an "accident" during father's weekend visitation. Charges upgraded to murder in April 2014.
Father: TREMAINE RACHAL
Victim(s): Kaden Perkins (11 months)
Date of Death: November 28, 2013
During Thanksgiving visitation with father, son apparently beaten to death. Father charged. No update as of October 2014.
Hill County
Father: EDWIN ODELL COLLINS JR.
Victim: Judith Collins (14 years)
Date of Death: July 2012
Father convicted of murder in January 2015. Father was divorced form the mother who lived in Waco. Father had apparently been using meth and was in a paranoid/delusional state when he shot the girl and left her body in a field for four hours. Custodial arrangements are not explained in any news articles. But at minimum he had some sort of access. At least one internet commenter reports he had full custody.
Jasper County
Father: LEO DESMOREAUX IV
Victim(s): Triston Dobbins (21 months)
Date of Death: December 2007
Boy died of head injuries while visiting father, stepmother. Father on trial for capital murder in January 2010.
Lubbock County
Father: JUSTIN MICHAEL CHISUM
Victim(s): Kylee Forrest (4 years)
Date of Death: February 2015
Guardian had custody of the child. Mom in prison for burglary and had supervised visitation. Father had unsupervised visitation. Within 1 day of being granted access to the child by guardian, father had allegedly bludgeoned child to death so viciously that there was blood on the windows. Father was arrested while running naked outside and screaming. Allegedly confessed to police that he had killed the girl. Charged with murder.
San Jacinto County
*Father: PREDRAG PERISIC
Victim(s): Deyan Perisic (10 years), Danyela Perisic, severely injured (12 years)
Date of Death: December 2010
Father gained custody in Montreal, Canada in April 2010, and moved the children to Cold Spring, Texas. Mother regained custody in October 2010, and the children “disappeared” shortly thereafter. Father charged with shooting children when police tried to reclaim them. In December 2012, father found guilty and sentenced to two 99-year prison sentences.
Potter County
Father: ROBERT NUNEZ
Victim(s): Miguel Angel Nunez (18 months)
Date of Death: 2004
Father had custody at the time of the baby’s “disappearance.” Mom was scheduled to get custody back due to custodial interference. Body not found until December 2010. Father eventually admitted that baby died under his care.
Tarrant County
Father: WILLIE LOUIS JACKSON
Victim(s): LaMarcus Green (1 year)
Date of Death: October 2013
In April 2015, father on trial for homicide. Mother initially lost custody when arrested on burglary charges. The maternal grandmother then assumed custody, and by all accounts the baby was doing fine in the grandmother's care. Father assumed custody despite the grandmother's objections and without prior notification.
Father: THOMAS OLIVAS
Victim(s): Asher Olivas (1 year), Mechelle Gandy (boy's mother)
Date of Death: March 2011
Father is alleged to have killed son, son's mother to avoid child support. Dad charged with capital murder in September 2012. Convicted in October 2014.
Father: ROBERT MARQUIS LAMAR WILLIAMS
Victim(s): Anastasia Williams (3 years)
Date of Death: March 2013
Custodial father arrested for murder of 3-year-old daughter. Had assumed custody in November 2011. Mother lived out of state. No update as of October 2014.
Travis County
Father: LEONARD “IVAN” SOLIZ
Victim(s): Julian Soliz (5 years)
Date of Death: April 2010
Custodial dad claimed he was in jail on probation violation when son beaten to death, allegedly by girlfriend. No update as of October 2014.
Walker County
Father: HOWARD WAYNE LEWIS
Victim(s): Aiyden (18 months), Shanta Crawford (boy's maternal grandmother)
Date of Death: July 2013
Father in "custody dispute" charged with capital murder in deaths of toddler son, grandmother.
Wood County
Father: GEORGE SAUNDERS
Victim(s): Loren Saunders (16 years)
Date of Death: January 2011
In February 2015, custodial father finally charged with murder in the shooting death of son. Father had previously claimed that son shot himself in an accident. Mother indicated father was an alcoholic with a "gun at every door."
Young County
Father: GABRIEL ARMANDARIZ
Victim(s): Gatlin (2 years), Luke (6 months)
Date of Death: April 2011
Children had been living with their father pending an upcoming custody hearing involving their mother. Father allegedly killed the children, and sent photos of their bodies to mother. Case was reportedly still being investigated as of January 2014. Father finally went to trial in February 2015. Sentenced to life in prison after being spared the death penalty.