Texas Toddler Dies After Mom’s Boyfriend Beats Him Over Potty Training

A 2-year-old boy in Texas died after he was struck by his mother's boyfriend, causing the toddler to hit his head on the toilet during potty training.

Tevin Jefferson died Tuesday at a home in Houston. His mother, Darrielle Williams and her boyfriend, Johvonte Johnson, are facing child injury charges.

An incident report revealed Williams took Jefferson to a Houston emergency room after the child suffered head trauma. The boy was later pronounced dead.

During the preliminary investigation, Williams claimed the injury was caused after the child accidentally fell in the bath. However, her story didn't match the wounds seen on the toddler’s body, authorities said.

"The child had suffered obvious trauma to the head that was not consistent with the explanation given by the mother," the sheriff's office said in a press release.

Johnson, who is not the child's biological father, came to the hospital a while later. He repeated the same story initially, but later during a critical interrogation, admitted to have beaten the child during his potty training. Johnson struck the boy so hard he fell and hit his head on the toilet and immediately became unresponsive, the press release said.

Johnson then took the boy to his mother's workplace, where the duo planned the cover-up story, deputies said.

"Both Williams and Johnson eventually admitted to fabricating the story about the child falling while with his mother," the sheriff's office said in the release.

During the Wednesday night hearing, Johnson was charged with causing injury to a child. However, Harris County sheriff’s deputies said once the autopsy results are out, he will likely be charged with murder.

Williams did not appear for the court hearing, but her charges were read out. She is charged with injury to a child as she failed to protect her son. It is unclear at the moment if she will be facing any additional charges for helping her boyfriend in covering up the crime.

The court documents revealed Texas Child Protective Services had previously interrogated Johnson for alleged child abuse. Prosecutors said that despite the history, Williams still left her toddler in Johnson’s care.

Both Williams and Johnson are currently being held on a $50,000 bond each.