Travis Brown sentenced to life in prison for Staunton toddler's slaying
STAUNTON — With a heavy law enforcement presence Friday afternoon in Augusta County Circuit Court, Travis R. Brown was sentenced to life in prison on a charge of aggravated murder for the killing of a 3-year-old Staunton girl.
For good measure, Circuit Judge Shannon Sherrill tacked on an additional 20 years behind bars on a second charge of child abuse.
Brown, 32, of Waynesboro, has no option for parole.
Evidence at his August trial showed the Khaleesi Cuthriell was burned, malnourished, cut and most likely beaten before her disappearance.
Brown did not testify in his own defense at his trial but was given a chance to speak in court Friday moments before being sentenced. In a rambling statement he blamed his co-defendant, Candi J. Royer, for the girl's death, and also claimed there was a conspiracy by the Augusta County Sheriff's Office and Augusta County Commonwealth's Attorney Tim Martin to have him convicted. Brown predicted he'd win his freedom on an appeal and stated he will be owed an apology.
"This is just absurd," he said.
As the judge sentenced Brown to life in prison plus 20 years, Martin sat at the prosecutor's table with a smile that was ever so slight.
In a victim impact statement that was inaudible at times and given by Amanda Mullen (formerly Amanda Arey), Khaleesi's mother, she said, "I don't know if I'm ever going to be OK after this." She said the killing of her daughter was "so senseless, so hateful and evil."
The toddler was placed in the care of Brown and Royer, 44, in October 2020 after Mullen was incarcerated at Middle River Regional Jail on a probation violation. Mullen initially sought to give Khaleesi to a relative, but earlier testimony revealed Child Protective Services, a division of Shenandoah Valley Social Services, didn't allow the move.
Despite Royer being on home electronic monitoring while serving a criminal conviction at her home during the pandemic, a CPS employee took Khaleesi to the residence on Cattle Scales Road near Waynesboro and placed the child in her care, not knowing Brown was also living there. No official from CPS ever returned to check on the toddler, according to testimony.
Photos and video of the toddler seized by investigators showed her physical condition getting progressively worse while living at the couple's home, and signs of abuse were evident within at least three weeks of her arrival, evidence showed. Several weeks later, videos and photographs showed most of her body was already covered in bruises, cuts and burns. Large swaths of hair were also missing.
Khaleesi would be dead by January 2021, authorities now believe, but she wasn't reported missing until nine months later after her mother told a jail official she’d lost contact with the couple and hadn’t spoken to her daughter in several months.
In September 2021, the sheriff's office announced the toddler was missing. Following the capture of Brown and Royer at a Pennsylvania motel, that same month the agency reported Khaleesi was dead.
Authorities searched the couple's home, and investigators found bloodstains on a wall that contained Khaleesi's DNA. One of the bloodstains was six feet off the floor. Police located a wire hanger with a handle made of tape that contained both Royer's DNA and the toddler's, evidence showed. Khaleesi's door to her bedroom was also found to have a lock on the outside.
Under questioning following his arrest, Brown admitted the toddler was dead, claiming she killed herself by purposefully slamming her head into a doorframe. "It's what she did, man," he said in a recording with Augusta County investigators. Brown told them he attempted CPR on the toddler but was unsuccessful. "I tried so hard, dude."
A drug addict at the time, Brown said he then passed out. After waking, Brown told investigators he left Khaleesi on the floor until the next day, when he said he wrapped her in a blanket and put her body in a garbage can.
Her body has never been recovered.
Brown remains at Middle River Regional Jail awaiting his transfer to the Virginia Department of Corrections.
Royer, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in September, will be sentenced Thursday. She faces the possibility of life in prison.
Following Brown's sentence, Martin said, "There aren't words to describe the horror of this crime. These two people did it together."
The prosecutor said everyone who worked the case, from his office to the sheriff's office and others, has been impacted and will never be the same.
"The fact that somebody could do this to a little girl is mind boggling," Martin said.
Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on X (formerly Twitter).
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Travis Brown sentenced to life in prison for toddler's slaying
