Moment mom, 21, sobbed on the ground for missing toddler found in bayou - just months before she was arrested for 'brutally beating the girl with a hair brush and disposing her body in a storm drain'
Two months after she was seen sobbing on the ground over the discovery of her daughter's body in a bayou, a Texas mother has been charged in the girl's death.
Houston police arrested Sahara Ervin, 20, and her boyfriend, 21-year-old Travion Thompson, on Tuesday for their roles in the death of two-year-old Maliyah Bass.
Both were charged with injury to a child and tampering with evidence, KTRK reports.
Sahara Ervin, 20, and her boyfriend, 21-year-old Travion Thompson, were arrested on Tuesday for their roles in the death of two-year-old Maliyah Bass
An Amber Alert had been issued for Maliyah after Ervin said that she had left the toddler alone on the playground outside on August 22
Maliyah was found dead in Brays Bayou on August 23, and Ervin and Thompson were both filmed by local news, overcome with emotion.
Ervin can be seen folded over herself as she 'cries' over the girl's death.
An Amber Alert had been issued for Maliyah after Ervin said that she had left the toddler alone on the playground outside of the couple's apartment for a few minutes while she cooked breakfast on August 22.
A $150,000 bond has been set for Thompson while Ervin has been given a bonds total of $175,000.
Maliyah was found dead in Brays Bayou on August 23
Ervin can be seen folded over herself as she 'cries' over the girl's death
'Everyone looking stupid and looking for the baby when they knew what happened to the baby,' said Stella, a neighbor of the couple.
Court records reveal that an autopsy showed Maliyah had a left forearm that was broken and extensive superficial blunt force trauma. The trauma looked to be a looped-pattern bruising all over her body.
The medical examiner believed that Maliyah was beaten with an extension cord-like object or a hanger-like object.
She was last seen alive on security video on August 20 at 12.40am.
Court records indicate that Thompson claimed that Ervin beat the toddler with a hair brush when she would not stop crying and would not go to sleep. The girl was left in a closet and discovered dead on August 21, according to the documents.
Thompson told police that they disposed of the girl's body in a storm drain on August 22.