Trial starts for Kyle mother charged with capital murder in alleged killing of 2-year-old son
A jury will decide over the next couple of weeks whether Dazrine Chagoya-Williams -- the young Kyle mother charged for her alleged role in her 2-year-old son's death -- is guilty of capitol murder.
HAYS COUNTY (KXAN) — A jury will decide over the next couple of weeks whether Dazrine Chagoya-Williams — the young Kyle mother charged for her alleged role in her two-year-old son's death — is guilty of capital murder.
Stevie Dwayne Williams, Chagoya-Williams' husband and Mason's father, was found guilty of capital murder in October for his involvement in the young boy's death. He repeatedly told police it was "demons" who killed the young boy, according to body camera video shown in court.
Chagoya-Williams will now face a jury for her alleged role. After being postponed, her trial starts Monday, April 25.
Media is not allowed inside the jury selection process but KXAN digital reporter Grace Reader will be live tweeting the trial once opening statements begin. Those are expected to happen Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on when a jury can be seated.
The following timeline for Mason's death was presented by the state at Stevie's trial:
Timeline of events
Mason was born in October 2016 to Dazrine and Stevie. Only a few months later, in January 2017, Mason’s parents brought him to Dell Children’s Hospital because of burns the parents reportedly told doctors were accidentally caused during a bath. During his examination at the hospital, Mason was found to have fractures; one in his wrist and 13 in his ribs.
Those injuries were the reason Child Protective Services (CPS) removed Mason from his parents in late January 2017. After Stevie and Dazrine completed the steps necessary to be reunited with Mason, they were again given custody roughly a year later.
CPS testified that they had stopped monitoring the family in March 2018. On July 4, 2018, Mason was found dead.
Evidence brought forward by the state included photos and videos from first responders of the scene where Mason was found dead, recorded interviews with Stevie following Mason’s death, photos and videos pulled off the couple’s phones and x-rays and photos taken of the injuries to both Mason and his younger sister.
Mason’s autopsy revealed his chest had been constricted to the point that he could not breathe, cutting off oxygen to the brain which ultimately caused his death. He was also found to have other internal and external injuries.
During testimony in Stevie's trial, a pediatrician from Dell Children’s talked about her evaluation of Mason’s younger sister, also named Dazrine, after she was brought to the hospital by CPS the day after Mason’s death. She was eight months old at the time.
Baby Dazrine also had injuries. She had a large skull fracture and 22 rib fractures, among other internal and external injuries.
During interviews following Mason’s death, Stevie told investigators with the Kyle Police Department that it was actually “demons” or something “evil” that had killed his son. Over the course of Stevie’s interview with police — which was more than an hour long and was played for the jury — Stevie maintained that neither he nor his wife were involved in any way.
According to court documents, many of the same witnesses that testified in Stevie's trial will also testify in Dazrine's.
You can follow digital reporter Grace Reader on Twitter for live updates. Those will also appear in our coverage online.