Suspect extradited to Harris County in killing of pregnant woman

Kevin Faux was extradited back to Harris County this week, giving prosecutors direct custody of the 24-year-old man charged with capital murder in the death of 23-year-old Ashanti Allen and her unborn child. He was being held in the Harris County Jail with bond still unset, and the case is now set to move forward in the 228th Criminal District Court.

Allen’s disappearance set off the investigation. Texas EquuSearch said she was last seen leaving her residence near the 8700 block of Main Street in Houston on April 10, when she was 8 months pregnant and considered high-risk. Several days later, Houston police said her body was found about 9 a.m. on April 16 at 11655 Chimney Rock Road.

Court summaries say investigators pieced together a timeline that linked Faux to Allen’s final hours. They believe the pair left Allen’s apartment around 2:25 a.m. on April 10. Roughly an hour later, prosecutors say, Faux FaceTimed another woman and admitted he had killed someone. That woman later told police he showed her a dead body on the call and then put the phone down while dragging the body, according to the court records summarized in reports.

Investigators also say Allen’s vehicle was found at Faux’s mother’s home and that her cellphone pinged near that location after the killing. Prosecutors further allege that Faux traveled to Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, later that day, told another woman not to search for him online, and used Allen’s debit card there before U.S. Marshals arrested him on April 20. Harris County prosecutors now have him back in the county where the case will be tried.

The charge reflects the gravity of the allegations. Under Texas Penal Code Section 19.03, a murder can become capital murder when more than one person is killed during the same criminal transaction, which is the legal framework being used here because Allen and her unborn child are included in the case.

The case has also stirred broader concern in Houston’s domestic-violence community. Houston police’s Family Violence Unit reported 205 Texans were victims of intimate partner or stalking homicide in 2023, including 179 women. Allen’s family gathered at Chimney Rock Park on April 23, where more than 100 people attended a vigil and balloon release in her memory. Houston media have also reported that Faux was convicted in February of assaulting Allen, a history that now hangs over the capital murder prosecution as Harris County prepares for the next court proceedings.