A 27-year-old father in Texas is accused of killing his newborn son, allegedly beating the 2-month-old to death and claiming the boy was only hospitalized due to an “allergic reaction.”

Demari Alston was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of capital murder of a victim under 10 years of age in the brutal 2024 slaying of young Zayn Alston, court records show.

Zayn”s mother, 22-year-old Trinity Nyomi Perez, was also arrested on one count of injury to a child resulting in serious bodily injury.

According to court records, Zayn had been severely injured when he was just 10 days old and placed in the care of his maternal grandmother, with the parents being prohibited from being alone with the child or spending the night with him.

The investigation began when Houston Police at about 7 p.m. on Sept. 9, 2024, responded to Memorial Hermann Hospital regarding an infant in critical care after suffering a skull fracture, brain bleed, and retinal hemorrhaging, all of which were “highly concerning for physical abuse.” Zayn succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead on Sept. 11, 2024.

Both parents agreed to provide voluntary statements to police, per a probable cause affidavit.

Perez allegedly said that while she and Alston, whom she identified as her boyfriend and Zayn’s father, were prohibited from spending the night with the baby, they typically went to the grandmother’s apartment early in the morning and stayed until he was down for the evening.

At about 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 8, Perez said she was in the living room and Alston was alone with the victim in the bedroom when he claimed he “tripped” on his shoe while holding the baby, but said the child was “fine.” The grandmother was in a spare bedroom at the time.

Despite the boy being hospitalized in critical condition a short while later, Perez denied that Alston would ever hurt her or their son. When questioned about the infant’s previous injuries, she provided a “vague answer” and “indicated another child may have caused the injuries,” per the affidavit.

Inset: Trinity Perez (Harris County Dept. of Corrections). Background: The street in Houston where Alston allegedly killed his newborn son (Google Maps).

The following morning, Alston allegedly tried to blame his son’s condition on allergies.

“Alston said he is the last person to see [Zayn] alive,” the affidavit states. “When asked why his son was brought to the hospital last night, your Affiant observed Mr. Alston say, ‘This s— is crazy. I am not going to lie.’ Mr. Alston said [Zayn] may be having an allergic reaction causing everything to swell because [Zayn] had not ever had problems breathing.”

Alston continued claiming he tripped, but didn’t drop the child or allow his head to be hit. However, a forensic search of Alston’s phone revealed troubling, and likely incriminating, texts and internet searches.

Police said they found “deleted” searches from the night of Sept. 8, that included:

• “2-month-old baby hard to wake up”
• “What happens if your 2-month-old doesn’t have a pulse”
• “Does infant CPR really work? Can it save a baby who has stopped breathing”
• “Will you go to jail if you find your child unresponsive”
• “my 2-month-old died is anyone getting charged”
• “best Houston defense lawyers child abuse cases”

One day after his initial interview with police, Alston allegedly searched, “how to pass a lie detector test,” which he also allegedly deleted.

In text messages between the couple from Aug. 15, 2024, Perez lashed out at Alston about their son’s condition after the boy was with Alston.

“IDK where tf these marks coming from, but my baby shouldn’t have blood on his fucking clothes,” Perez allegedly sent to Alston.
“That looks like a little scratch,” he allegedly responded. “Who is you cussing at? That’s a minor scratch my nails. getting long. I gotta go get em done.”

Perez continued criticizing Alston for being “too rough” with the newborn and Alston eventually conceded, “I know I am rough.”

Another message from the grandmother concerned a bite mark on the boy’s cheek, which apparently was not the first time such a mark — a “complete circle with two cuts on the top” — had appeared. When questioned about the marks, Alston again blamed a possible allergic reaction, this time to tobacco.

“Tobacco prolly breaking his face out,” Alston wrote after Perez forwarded him a photo of the boy sent to her by the grandmother. “He had the same marks last time when I kissed him. Them lips marks. Not bite marks. He might be breaking out. Only talks I need to have is with CPS barely that. He literally having marks everywhere since he was born he just got sensitive skin.”

In addition, police said they also discovered the following conversation between the couple just before they were interviewed by detectives:

Perez to Alston: Detective here
Alston to Perez: Okay remember bumped head at around 5-6pm trippin over shoe but he was still active.
Alston to Perez: We both went to Walmart,
Perez to Alston: K
Alston to Perez: Delete thread… or just them messages.

Alston is currently being held in the Harris County Detention Center on $2 million bond, records show. It was not immediately clear when he was scheduled to make his next court appearance.