More than a year after their 4-month-old child was discovered dead in a motel dresser drawer, two Texas parents have been charged with murder.
More than a year after the Harris County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) reacted to the death of a newborn in a motel on Rancho Mission Drive in Houston in May 2024, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez revealed on Saturday, June 21, that the baby’s parents had been arrested.
After their daughter, Brookelynn Fancher, died on May 26, 2024, Jeremy Fancher, 38, and Destiny Campos, 22, were charged with murder by the HCSO, Gonzalez said.
According to the HCSO, Brookelynn’s parents had been “living at the location for over a year” when she was discovered unconscious in a dresser drawer where she “reportedly slept.”
Destiny was taken into custody and booked into Harris County Jail on Friday, June 20, following a follow-up investigation. According to the HCSO, Jeremy was taken into custody on Saturday, June 21, and was booked at Tom Green County Jail.
Gonzalez acknowledged the efforts of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the San Angelo Police Department, the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office, and the HCSO’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Team in a statement, writing, “I’m glad our team has remained relentless and sought justice for this precious infant.”
“Thanks to them, we are closer to securing justice for baby Brookelynn,” the sheriff continued.
Authorities “found methamphetamines in the [hotel] room” with the infant last year, according to Luann Simon, the baby’s maternal great-grandmother, who expressed relief that charges had been brought.
Simon argued that once the infant died, the police ought to have taken the parents into custody sooner. She said, “They have been living their lives like nothing ever happened. They should’ve been charged with the drugs at the scene and held on those charges until the homicide charges were ready.”
Simon, who stated that she would “like to see them spend the rest of their lives behind bars,” also claimed that her granddaughter Destiny informed her that the pair had “shut her in there” when they wanted “alone time” and that it “wasn’t the first time” they had done so with Brookelynn in the dresser drawer.
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According to the documents, Destiny allegedly told detectives that her husband would use a towel to close the drawer so the baby wouldn’t kick it open.
According to the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office, Brookelynn suffocated to death.
After the baby died, Destiny stated she was asleep and thought the baby was with Jeremy, while Jeremy said he was at the shop and returned to find the drawer closed. According to the outlet, the parents were also residing with their one-year-old son at the time.
According to reports, a housekeeper at the motel took pictures of Brookelynn in the drawer and informed management.
According to jail records, Jeremy’s bond has been set at $850,000. According to other jail documents, Destiny’s bond has been set at $300,000, and she is scheduled to appear in court on Monday, June 23.
