Tx. Mother Who Dressed Life-Sized Doll As Her Dead Toddler Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison

A Texas mother who was sentenced to 20 years in prison last week after a jury found her guilty of dumping her daughter’s corpse in a lake also created and carried around a life-sized doll that resembled the dead toddler, according to a Texas district attorney.

Tiaundra Christon, 21, was found guilty of tampering with a human corpse in the 2018 death of her 2-year-old daughter, Hazana Anderson, according to Click2Houston. She pleaded not guilty to the charges. Her trial began on Dec. 8 and she was found guilty after 20 minutes of jury deliberations, the outlet reported. 

Hazana Anderson died in a Houston hotel room while Christon brought her to visit her boyfriend and co-defendant, Kenny Hewett. The girl’s death was not reported, and the Texas mother called emergency dispatchers on Oct. 28, 2018, claiming that her daughter had gone missing in Gabbard Park, a city park in College Station, Texas.

Tiaundra Christon Photo: Brazos County Sheriff's Office

Later, as investigators in College Station looked into the case, they found a life-sized doll in the garbage near where Christon had parked her car. The doll had been outfitted with clothes that were an exact match of what Christon described her daughter as wearing when she reported her missing. 

Friends said in the time period that was later discovered to be just after the toddler’s death they’d seen Christon carting around what they thought was her daughter. Surveillance footage also captured Christon carrying the doll in a Walmart parking lot. Galveston County Criminal District Attorney Jack Roady said in a news release that when she returned to College Station, Christon created and carried the doll around with her, pretending it was her baby, Click2Houston reported.

Christon later admitted that Hazana, who she reportedly said had physical signs of sexual assault, died in the Houston hotel room. KHOU reported that Christon confessed that the couple threw the toddler’s body in a lake in Galveston County. Hazana had been beaten with a belt until she lost consciousness, Click2Houston reported, was placed in a bathtub and later burnt with a hairdryer before the couple dumped her body in the lake. 

The young girl’s remains were later recovered about 140 miles away from where Christon had reported the girl missing. Police said that child’s cause of death was undetermined by medical examiners, Click2Houston reported.

Christon was also fined $10,000. She will be eligible for parole after serving at least 15 percent of her 20-year sentence.

In November, Hewett pleaded guilty and was handed the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison related to the child’s death, Click2Houston reported.