A 27-year-old father in Texas faces charges after allegedly causing the death of his 2-month-old son, reportedly beating the infant to death while initially attributing the hospitalization to an “allergic reaction.”

Demari Alston was arrested last week, accused of capital murder for allegedly killing young Zayn Alston in 2024, court records reveal. He is charged with one count of capital murder of a victim under the age of 10.

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.

Documents show that Zayn sustained severe injuries at just 10 days old, which led to his placement in his maternal grandmother’s care. The parents were banned from being alone with him or staying overnight.

The investigation was launched when Houston Police were contacted around 7 p.m. on Sept. 9, 2024, after an infant was critically injured at Memorial Hermann Hospital with a skull fracture, brain bleeding, and retinal injury—all signs of suspected physical abuse. Zayn died from his injuries on Sept. 11, 2024.

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

The mother, Perez, reportedly said that although she and Alston, her boyfriend and the baby’s father, were not allowed overnight access to Zayn, they often visited the grandmother’s home early in the morning and remained there until Zayn went to sleep.

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.