East Texas toddler's parents on the run after 2-year-old dies

PANOLA COUNTY, TX (KSLA) - An East Texas toddler is dead.

His parents are on the run.

It appears the Beckville couple skipped town without attending their 2-year-old's funeral Saturday.

Now Panola County sheriff's detectives are asking the public to help find the pair.

Braylyn Sheppard, 25, and Brianna Jones, 22, last were seen traveling in a black and gray 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe bearing Texas license plates 5JDSW.

Authorities say they have warrants to arrest the pair on a charge of injury to a child in connection with the death of Kai'Syn Ke'Mar Sheppard.

The child's obituary describes him as a miracle baby who was happy and always smiling.

He enjoyed watching "Paw Patrol" and playing - on a cell phone, with his fire truck and outside with his sister and cousins, the notice reads.

Milk was his favorite drink, the obituary reads, and he would eat raw potatoes.

"One lesson we can learn from Kai'Syn is to never be afraid to express your love to others."
 
His parents told police and medical workers that he struck his head on concrete when he fell off a porch March 11.

The child vomited blood at least twice the next day and complained of stomach pains, the couple told investigators.

The night of March 13, Jones reportedly went to work and left Sheppard home with Kai'Syn.

It was around 11:50 p.m. that Sheppard noticed Kai'Syn was lying on the couch and not moving or responding to attempts to wake him up.

It was then, the parents told police, that Jones told Sheppard to call 911.

Panola County sheriff's deputies were called to the UT Health East Texas emergency room in Carthage on March 14 after an unconscious 2-year-old boy was brought to the hospital for treatment of internal injuries and contusions on his head and face.

The child was flown to Children's Medical Center in Dallas.

It was there that Kai'Syn died March 15 after doctors told police that the child was on life support and that his prognosis was not good.

Preliminary information from the hospitals and an autopsy conducted at the Southwest Institute of Forensic Science "indicate that the number and severity of the injuries, both internal and external, were not consistent with a fall from a porch," the Sheriff's Office reports.

Officials also advised that the toddler may not have received adequate medical care before his parents called 911.

Investigators say Sheppard and Jones agreed to be reinterviewed March 19 but failed to show up at the Sheriff's Office.

Kai'Syn was buried Saturday in Henderson, Texas.

Authorities urge anyone with any information about Sheppard, Jones or the Chevrolet Tahoe to call the Sheriff's Office at (903) 693-0333.

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