Houston man charged with murder after missing pregnant woman found dead

A suspicious text from Ashanti Allen’s phone, a missing car and cellphone data that pointed investigators from Edgewood Park to Chimney Rock Park turned a missing-person search into a murder case in southwest Houston.

Houston police said 24-year-old Kevin Faux was charged with murder in the death of Allen, 23, whose remains were found Thursday morning at 11655 Chimney Rock Rd. in southwest Houston. Police identified Faux as the father of Allen’s unborn child.

Allen had last been seen April 8 in the 8700 block of Main Street and was reported missing April 10. Her family told investigators they became alarmed after receiving a strange text from her phone saying she was leaving and never coming back. Allen’s mother went to the apartment, found that her daughter was gone and discovered her vehicle was missing too. Texas EquuSearch spent days searching for her and set up a command post near Buffalo Speedway and Airport Boulevard.

Investigators said cellphone data first led them to Allen’s phone at Edgewood Park before the device later pinged near Chimney Rock Park, where police found the remains. Houston Public Media reported Allen was eight months pregnant and experiencing a high-risk pregnancy. KHOU 11 reported she was expecting her first child and that the body was found around 9 a.m. Thursday.

The case has also drawn attention to Faux’s prior violence. Court records show he was convicted in February 2026 of assaulting a family member and sentenced to 280 days in jail with 143 days of credit already served. Records also show a 2022 conviction for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Click2Houston reported that family members said Faux had violent cases in 2019 and 2021, plus two assaults against Allen in September 2025, and that Harris County’s two-for-one jail credit shortened his sentence and led to his release about two months before Allen was killed.

Allen’s family has set up a fundraiser to help with funeral costs, with a $5,500 goal and $4,900 raised by Friday morning. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says violence around pregnancy often involves an intimate partner and can have severe effects on both the pregnant woman and the baby. A CDC analysis found 5.4% of women with a live birth in nine jurisdictions reported intimate partner violence during pregnancy, underscoring how quickly domestic abuse can become deadly.

Authorities are asking anyone with information on Faux’s whereabouts to contact Houston police homicide investigators or Crime Stoppers of Houston.