Texas woman pushed, slapped and choked 5-year-old goddaughter to death five days after child stayed with her
ORANGE, TEXAS: A young girl from Louisiana went to visit her godmother for a week in Texas where she was allegedly beaten to death and strangled by her godmother.
32-year-old Brenika Lott has been charged with capital murder for the death of her goddaughter Daviana Landry, 5. According to Daviana's family, the Louisiana girl had gone to visit her godmother whom she would fondly call 'nana'. According to WWLTV, the child had gone to visit Lott the day after Father's Day and was dead five days later. A relative of Daviana, Alice Landry said, "She had my baby more than one time, and I would have never, ever suspected anything like this because she loved my baby."
On June 26, the Orange police authorities were called to Lott's home where they found Lott performing CPR on the child. A probable cause affidavit revealed that the child had some bruising on her arms, her chest, and her face. Her eyes "appeared swollen shut." While speaking to the police, Lott said that when she awoke the morning of Friday, June 26, at 11:05 am, she noticed that her 5-year-old goddaughter, was lying on the living room floor, completely naked. Lott said she immediately awakened her son, had him call 911, and she began to perform CPR. When the cops asked about the injuries, Lott had allegedly claimed that they had been a result of mosquito bites.
She also allegedly said that one of the injuries that was on the back of Daviana's head had been due to a slip-and-slide accident. Lott's 11-year-old son said otherwise and allegedly told the authorities that he saw his mother 'slapping, choking, and beating up' the little girl. The affidavit reveals that preliminary autopsy results found that Daviana had suffered from "craniocerebral trauma, to include skull fractures, subdural hemorrhage, and brainstem contusions."
It also revealed that the child had died of blunt force trauma. Friends and family close to Daviana's mother, Safiyaa Landry say that she is devastated and is having a very difficult time. A family friend, Ashley Tolbert shared, "She usually has her with her, by her side. So that kind of disappeared. That’s one main focus that keeps her crying, because she’s so used to that love and that bond that her and her daughter had."
Lott is currently being held behind bars on a $1 million bond. As reported by the Beaumont Enterprise, Lott was jailed on a capital murder charge. Capt. Robert Enmon said that the authorities had also been testing many objects that could have been used in the killing.
An aunt of Daviana, Pertiyyah Landry said, "This was the second time (Daviana) had stayed with (Lott). The first time was for a couple of days, and no one thought twice about her going again. No one thought this would happen. She didn’t deserve that at all."
A neighbor who chose to remain anonymous said that Lott had moved into the neighborhood six years ago along with her husband and son. After her husband left her, she appeared to "become more stressed." The neighbor said, "She wasn’t working. She said she was going to beauty school until it closed due to COVID." It is then her behavior started to change. "She was constantly yelling at her little boy."
"She would berate him. She would ask him why he was being so stupid and saying he should know how to do things. He’s a special needs child. He is deaf and very sweet. He has been in and out of all of our homes. He and his friends know where all of our water hoses are and they would just grab one when they need a drink," the neighbor added.