Waynesboro man claimed toddler killed herself by ramming head into doorframe
STAUNTON — For hours in September 2021, two investigators from the Augusta County Sheriff's Office who'd traveled to Pennsylvania to question Travis Brown tried in vain to get the Waynesboro man to tell them the whereabouts of Khaleesi Cuthriell, according to video shown Tuesday during the second day of Brown's murder trial.
At the time, Khaleesi, 3, hadn't been seen by family members for several months after her mother handed her over to Brown's live-in girlfriend, Candi Jo Royer, in October 2020, before going to jail.
Following the capture of the couple at a Pennsylvania motel after they'd gone on the run, investigators from the sheriff's office immediately caught a flight to the area of South Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in an effort to acquire information that would lead them to the girl, who they hoped was still alive.
Initially during the lengthy interrogation, Brown, 31, claimed a Child Protective Services official in a state car had taken Khaleesi away nine months earlier sometime in January 2021. The investigators — who already knew CPS didn't remove the toddler from Brown and Royer's Augusta County home — persisted as they tried to coax the suspect into telling them where Khaleesi had gone.
"I'm at the point of getting on my hands and knees and begging you," 1st Sgt. Mike Roane of the Augusta County Sheriff's Office said in the video, which was played for the jury.
Brown eventually changed his tune, stating Khaleesi was dead and her body was in a landfill.
"You told me she was alive," Inv. Trevor Rexrode interjected.
"No," Brown said.
"You did," said Rexrode, who again asked for a location.
After claiming he didn't kill her, for the first time during the hours-long interview, Brown got emotional and started weeping.
"Can you tell us where she is?" Rexrode said.
"Please," Roane added.
Brown resisted and instead asked what he'd be charged with before being told not to focus on possible charges. Finally, he told the investigators Khaleesi rammed her head into a doorframe, killing herself in the process. "It's what she did, man," he said.
Brown said he attempted CPR on the toddler but was unsuccessful. "I tried so hard, dude."
A regular drug user at the time, Brown said he passed out after Khaleesi died. After he awoke, Brown said he left the toddler's body on the floor until the next day, when he wrapped her in a blanket and put her body in a garbage can.
"I was scared," he told the investigators. "I didn't know what to do."
Earlier in the same interview, Brown said Khaleesi "liked to be smacked" and that she acted like she was "possessed." Brown also claimed he woke up one night to grab a bite to eat from the kitchen when he spotted Khaleesi choking his daughter. He made other odd accusations, telling investigators the toddler was sexually aware, masturbated, was prone to falling, and suicidal.
"We did everything any good Christian person would do," Brown said in the video.
Brown also made false claims that he and Royer, 43, repeatedly tried to call CPS while Khaleesi was in their care. "There was no one to help us," he said in the video. Earlier in the trial, evidence showed Royer and Brown never tried contacting CPS while Khaleesi lived with them.
The child's body was never recovered.
On Monday during the first day of Brown's murder trial in Augusta County Circuit Court, video and photographic evidence showed most of Khaleesi's body was already covered in bruises, cuts and burns within less than three months after moving into the couple's home. Large swaths of hair were also missing. Video of Khaleesi taken Jan. 12, 2021, perhaps her last day alive, according to Augusta County Commonwealth's Attorney Tim Martin, showed a frightened and confused child being verbally berated by Royer while being made to stand naked in a dry bathtub in her own feces.
On Tuesday in court, Dr. Robin Foster, an expert on child abuse and torture, took the stand and was asked to analyze photographs and videos of Khaleesi. A pediatrician at the Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU Health, Foster noted that in the first photo she was shown, taken in November 2020 less than three weeks after the toddler arrived at Brown and Royer's home, it showed slight bruising on her forehead, a swollen cheek and an abrasion underneath her bottom lip.
Just three days later, some of Khaleesi's hair is missing in another photo, and the bruising is more noticeable. Soft-tissue injuries to her face became more pronounced in the photos as her stay at the home progressed. The toddler also thinned considerably during her stay, and had what appeared to be three burns on her right ear that Foster said were most likely caused by a cigarette. In one photo, the child had two ulcerated blisters on the inside of her mouth that were indicative of burns, Foster said. Her feet were discolored in other photos.
"Her toes almost look blackened," the doctor noted.
When asked to compare a photo showing a smiling Khaleesi just days after her arrival to another photo taken several weeks later, her body covered in cuts and bruises with most of her hair missing, Foster said, "It's not even recognizable as the same child."
In her opinion, Foster said the case "fits the definition of child torture."
After authorities arrested the couple, Virginia State Police searched their home on Cattle Scales Road near Waynesboro. There, they found bloodstains on a wall that matched Khaleesi's DNA. One of the bloodstains was 6 feet off the floor. Police located a wire hanger with a handle made of tape that contained Royer's DNA and the toddler's, evidence showed. Khaleesi's door to her bedroom also had a lock on the outside, according to evidence.
After being called to the witness stand, Brittany Southern testified she had a brief fling with Brown before he fled the area with Royer. During their time together, Southern, who testified she didn't know Brown was already in a relationship, said they were in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant in Verona when he made a startling confession.
"He told me he had murdered somebody," Southern said.
Southern said Brown also used her cell phone to text with Royer. In one exchange with Brown, evidence showed Royer wrote, "I hope you rot in hell. You are a poor excuse for a person. Do you lay in bed at night and think about what you did to that little girl? I do. It's eating me alive."
Royer also instructs Brown to tell Southern about the "brush handle." In another text, she mentions, "The burns." In a follow up text, she says, "The bruises."
Southern testified that when she found out about Khaleesi and asked Brown about the toddler, he responded by storming off and throwing a cell phone at her.
When confronted by defense attorney Dana Cormier about her motivation to testify, Southern, who is being held on unrelated criminal charges, began crying on the stand. "I don't want anything in return. This is a baby!" she said between sobs.
Brown is charged with aggravated murder, murder and child abuse. His trial will resume at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. The prosecution is being handled by Martin and Augusta County Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Alexandra Meador, and they have yet to rest their case. When they do rest, Cormier will then be given the opportunity to present his evidence. The trial is scheduled for five days but could end sooner than Friday.
Royer, also charged with murder, will head to trial on Oct. 16.
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 Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Waynesboro man charged with murder claimed toddler killed herself
