In Texas, a mother and her partner have been arrested in connection with the death of their five-year-old son, who reportedly had severe bruising on his abdomen, buttocks, and extremities. Terry Robinson Jr., 35, is facing a capital murder charge, while Destiny Culvahouse, 24, is charged with causing a child’s death by omission, according to Texarkana police.
On September 27, police responded to a call about a child not breathing at an apartment on Nichols Drive. Paramedics arrived and attempted CPR on the unresponsive boy, later identified as Zaydon Robinson. Despite their efforts, the boy was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. Officers noted extensive injuries on the child, suggesting foul play, as per a probable cause arrest affidavit.
Robinson and Culvahouse were taken to the police station for questioning. Culvahouse reportedly told police that she woke up around 9 a.m. and Robinson had disciplined Zaydon for stealing before she got out of bed. She stated that Robinson left the apartment to go grocery shopping and make a car payment, and that Zaydon seemed fine that morning. The boy and the other children in the home took a nap around 11 a.m.
Culvahouse claimed that she discovered Zaydon wasn’t breathing when she went to wake him around 12:30 p.m. She alerted Robinson, who was outside in his car. Robinson attempted to wake Zaydon and then tried to warm him up in a bathtub, according to the affidavit.
Culvahouse stated that she called 911 at 1:30 p.m., but dispatch logs showed that the call wasn’t made until 2:12 p.m., nearly two hours after she claimed to have found Zaydon not breathing.
In his interview with detectives, Robinson reportedly said he woke up at 3 a.m. to find Zaydon awake and sent him back to his room. He woke up again around 7 a.m. to get breakfast for his daughters and woke Zaydon up around 8 or 9 a.m. Robinson claimed that he noticed Zaydon had stolen a diaper bag, a microphone stand, and two drinks during the night, which upset him.
Robinson said he was outside the apartment in his car when Culvahouse came out saying she thought Zaydon was dead. He took the unconscious Zaydon to the bathtub and put him under lukewarm water. After other lifesaving measures failed, he had Culvahouse call 911. He initially claimed only five minutes had passed between finding Zaydon and calling 911, but detectives confronted him about the discrepancy in time.
Robinson initially denied hitting Zaydon but later admitted to hitting him an unknown number of times with a belt because he was upset that the boy was not listening. Both Robinson and Culvahouse were taken to the Bi-State Detention Center, where they remain. Culvahouse’s bond is set at $1 million, while Robinson’s bail is set at $5 million.
