July 21, a Beaumont man pleaded guilty to causing critical injuries to an infant under his care dating to December 2025. As a result, 28-year-old Howard Dewayne Walker Jr. was sentenced to serve 22 years in a Texas state prison pursuant to a plea deal accepted in front of Jefferson County 252nd District Court Judge Raquel West.
According to Beaumont Police Department (BPD) investigators, officers were dispatched to a local hospital regarding a 1-year-old child in critical condition and exhibiting signs consistent with child abuse.
Detectives with the Special Crimes Unit responded and initiated an investigation, determining the child had been severely beaten, sustaining significant external and internal injuries, BPD reported. Due to the severity of her condition, the child was airlifted to a hospital in Houston in critical condition.
Dec. 18, 2025, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Walker, the boyfriend of the child’s mother. Walker was charged with Injury to a Child – Serious Bodily Injury, a first-degree felony.
Walker