A 25-year-old man in Texas may spend up to three decades behind bars for killing his girlfriend’s 11-month-old daughter two years ago, beating and shaking the infant — who suffered a cracked skull — because she interrupted him while he was playing video games.
Bryce L. Ceaser was sentenced to 30 years in a state correctional facility for the 2021 slaying of young Ka’Oir Stevens, authorities confirmed.
A jury in Jefferson County last week found Ceaser guilty on one count of felony injury to a child and one count of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury to a child. After two additional days of deliberations, the same jury on Monday sentenced him to 30 years on each charge, with the sentences to run concurrently, meaning at the same time.
According to a report from Beaumont, Texas, ABC and NBC affiliate KBMT, the investigation into Ceaser began when officers with the Beaumont Police Department at about 2:45 p.m. on Dec. 3, 2021, responded to a call regarding an infant who was allegedly choking and brought to St. Elizabeth Hospital with suspicious injuries. Unfortunately the child — later identified as Ka’Oir — was pronounced dead a few hours later.
Investigators said that Ceaser was babysitting the child that day while her mother went to work at a new job. Ceaser reportedly told police that he called 911 after the child began choking on a cheese cracker and became unresponsive.
However, a CT scan reportedly showed that Ka’Oir had suffered multiple physical injuries, including a fractured skull, brain hemorrhaging, petechiae or bleeding in her left eye, and bruising to her head and shoulders.
Ceaser initially stuck to the story that the victim was choking on the cheese cracker, explaining that her injuries could have been caused by his efforts to clear her airway. However, police said he eventually confessed to getting frustrated because Ka’Oir was misbehaving, and admitted to “popping the child a couple of times so she would stop crying,” prosecutors said.
During the trial, K’tirrah Stevens, the victim’s mother, provided emotional testimony about getting a call from Ceaser claiming her daughter had suffered a seizure.
“I rushed out of work, headed home to my apartment. I got there in about five minutes,” she said, according to Jasper, Texas, radio news station KJAS. “She was still in the position on the bed. Bryce had a towel and had put it on her head. She was just lying there. She didn’t respond. I was in shock. I said, ‘mama’s here. Can you hear me?’ She moved a little but didn’t respond. Just a little hand twitch. That was it.”
Prosecutors showed footage of Ceaser’s interrogation, emphasizing to jurors that he “showed no regret, no sorrow, no remorse, no empathy” toward the dying infant.
“He wanted to make sure law enforcement had his version of events. He would admit to at least ‘popping the child a couple of times so she would stop crying.’ He wanted to play video games,” Jefferson County Assistant District Attorney Tommy Coleman said during his closing argument,.
“He was mad he couldn’t pay the bills, couldn’t pay for a haircut. You’ll see the autopsy photos. They’re hard to watch. This baby died from a skull fracture. The baby’s skull was crushed. This defendant crushed the baby’s skull because he wanted to play a video game.”
Ceaser will be eligible for parole after serving 15 years of his sentence. Should he be released, he will be legally prohibited from owning a firearm
