Local woman sentenced after placing daughter’s deceased body in Galveston County bayou

GALVESTON, Texas (KBTX) - A jury on Monday opted to give the maximum punishment possible to a College Station mother found guilty of placing her deceased daughter’s body in a Galveston County bayou in 2018.

TiAundra Christon received a 20-year prison sentence along with a $10,000 fine after she was found guilty on a charge of tampering with a human corpse.

Hazana Anderson’s body was found after she was put into a trash bag and then placed into the bayou by Christon and her boyfriend Kenny Hewett. Investigators said the 1-year-old was sexually assaulted and beaten to death at a southeast Houston motel and then left in a vehicle for three days before being disposed of near State Highway 146 in Texas City.

In October 2020, a spokesman for the Harris County District Attorney’s office said the child’s death investigation had yet to be submitted to prosecutors by any law enforcement agency. KBTX has reached out to the Houston Police Department to ask if additional charges for the pair are possible and if the case remained open or closed.

It took less than an hour Monday morning for the jury in Galveston to decide its sentencing for 23-year-old Christon, who was released on bond earlier this year following a bond reduction. She was taken back into custody last week following her conviction in the county’s 56th Judicial District Court.

Christon’s defense attorney, William “Bill” Agnew, on Monday afternoon said he respect’s the jury’s decision but remained disappointed.

“Ms. Christon was in a bad situation with an extremely abusive man that got completely out of hand. This was as emotional of a jury trial as I have been through and my heart aches for everyone involved. There were no winners today,” said Agnew.

Hewett, 34, of Houston, pleaded guilty to the same charge last year in Galveston County and received a 20-year sentence. Due to the plea, he can’t appeal the case, but he’s up for parole as early as February 2021. Currently, he’s serving out his sentence at the Garza West prison in Beeville, Texas.