The mother of a young boy found dead in a Houston hotel room on Tuesday apparently told police she was having sex when her child passed away.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Kayla Holzendorf, 24, and her boyfriend, Dominique Lewis, 28, are both behind bars in connection with the death of Holzendorf’s young son, Keyontae Holzendorf.
According to the Houston Police Department, first responders arrived at the Quality Inn & Suites at 2930 West Sam Houston Parkway South on Wednesday, after someone reported that a child drowned. Authorities said they found Keyonta in the hotel room covered in physical injuries that wouldn’t have happened from drowning.
The boy was rushed to the Texas Children’s Hospital in Katy, where he was officially pronounced dead.
Both suspects were in the hotel room when police arrived. While doing a search, deputies found handcuffs hidden under a mattress, along with duct tape in the room. Holzendorf allegedly admitted to police that she hid the handcuffs.
“We believe those handcuffs may be associated with ligature marks on the ankles,” Gilbert Sawtelle, the chief prosecutor of the Child Fatality Division at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, told ABC 13.
On the day of the child’s death, Holzendorf sent him to take a bath while she had sex with Lewis, according to what she told investigators. Holzendorf said she went to check on the boy afterward and found him unresponsive in the bathtub.
Keyontae’s grandmother, Sheryl, traveled to Houston after learning the boy died. She told ABC 13 that she was shocked to hear what happened and had no idea her grandson was reportedly living in a hotel with his mother and her boyfriend.
“It’s just shocking that this could happen to us. None of us knew what was going on because [Keyontae’s mother] was so short on the phone, and every time that we would talk to her and Keyontae, she would have his face covered or we couldn’t see his face at all. We could just hear him in the background, so we had no idea this was going on.”
The injuries found on Keyontae were consistent with child abuse, authorities said. Along with ligature marks, Sawtelle said the boy had “large patches of skin missing from his chest, upper arms, thighs, and genitalia.” More specifically, the victim had:
- Patches of burns on his chest and body
- Burns on the shaft of his penis
- Lacerations on his left ear
- Forehead bruising
- Puncture wounds on various parts of his body
A witness, Nahji Jackson, told the station that she saw the boy around three weeks before he died. He was selling muffins outside of a Food Town grocery store, and according to Jackson, he kept falling asleep. Jackson said Keyontae had cuts and bruises, both old and new, which prompted her to contact the police.
“When I asked the little boy if he was okay, all he did was stare at me. He did not speak.” Jackson said. “I felt like I could have did more, but what more could I have done?”
HPD spokesman John Cannon reportedly said that the officers who arrived to check on the boy after Jackson’s call noted he appeared playful and unafraid of his mother and Lewis. The suspects told the responding officer that the bruises on the boy came from a bike accident.
💔 At just 8-years-old, Keyontae Holzendorf was found dead in a hotel room with brutal injuries, according to…
Posted by ABC13-Mycah Hatfield on Thursday, March 25, 2021
The officer then ran the suspects’ names with Child Protective Services, then contacted the state’s CPS Physical Abuse Unit. A CPS spokesperson said that the family does have a previous case but wouldn’t provide additional details.
Both suspects were detained subsequently arrested. They’re facing charges of injury to a child and tampering with evidence. Additional charges could follow, pending autopsy results.
“We believe this to be domestic violence-related, and we are investigating this now with our homicide division … we suspect foul play,” Assistant Chief Wendy Baimbridge with the Houston Police Department said. “We are looking at both mom and boyfriend and interviewing them at this time.”
Holzendorf’s bail was set at $150,000 total, while Lewis’ bail was set at $300,000. As of Friday, both remain behind bars.
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[Feature Photo: Keyontae Holzendorf/Screenshot via ABC 13]
