Editor’s Note: This timeline has been compiled from various testimony during the Capitol Murder Trial of Jekaris Bryant, who is accused of killing his 4 week old daughter, Breyla Ann Bryant, by “shaking, squeezing.” Corrections may be added to this timeline as further testimony is heard during the trial. 

November 15, 2015 – Breyla Ann Bryant was born by caesarean section, delivered by Dr. Neal, at the Brownwood Regional Medical Center to parents Jekaris Bryant and Makahla Brewer.

November 29, 2015 – Makahla drove to the Law Enforcement Center in Brownwood with Jekaris and Breyla in the car after Jekaris told the Makahla he would not allow her to take the child to Abilene where she was staying with her mother. Jekaris also allegedly told Makahla he would have his sister “beat her up.” When Makahla arrived at the Law Enforcement Center, Jekaris exited the vehicle, taking their two week old daughter with him into 30 degree weather, intending to walk to his father’s house with the child. He was stopped by police officers and there was a heated exchange before he finally released the child.

December 10, 2015 – Makahla leaves Breyla with Jekaris to travel to Austin to pick up Jordon Brown, her friend visiting from Las Vegas. Jekaris was alone with Breyla for several hours while her mother traveled to Austin and back to Brownwood. Autopsy results after Breyla’s death showed 4 rib fractures that could have occurred during this time as a separate incident from the one that resulted in her death just three days later. The 4 fractures showed signs of healing, different from the 28 additional fractures she sustained on December 13th.

December 12, 2015 – Jekaris, Makahla bring their infant daughter Breyla and their friend Jordon to attend a family get-together at Jakaris’ father Richard Bryant’s House from sometime after 6 p.m. until around 1 a.m. Several other family members and friends were also present. Both Makahla and Jordon admit in later testimony they consumed alcohol at the party. Breyla, along with another young child, slept in Richard Bryant’s room.

December 13, 2015 – Breyla’s death:

  • 1 a.m. Jekaris, Makahla, Breyla, and Jordan return to the apartment. Makahla goes to bed in the upstairs bedroom. Jekaris brings baby Breyla downstairs to watch a movie with Jordon. Breyla is fed, falls asleep, and is placed in the swing in the living room downstairs. Jekaris and Jordon go to an outside laundry room to smoke weed (in Jordon’s testimony she claims the didn’t find any) and accidentally locked themselves out of the house from approximately 2 a.m to 4:30 a.m. Jekaris breaks the door knob to reenter the home around 5 a.m. after hearing Breyla crying in her swing. He takes the baby upstairs and goes to bed. Jordon sleeps on the couch in the living room.
  • 5 a.m to 9 a.m. Makahla reports getting up a few times to feed Breyla in the upstairs bedroom.
  • 9:30 a.m. Jekaris’ father, Richard, comes to the apartment to see his granddaughter. He is upstairs for a few minutes and then asks Jordon to take care of the baby so Jekaris and Makahla can sleep. Jordon retrieves Breyla from Jekaris and Makahla’s room, offering to feed the baby so the couple can sleep. Jekaris and Makahla sleep for another hour or two while Jordan cares for Breyla.
  • 11:15 a.m. Jordon takes a snapchat photo of the baby, who appears content and awake. Jekaris and Makahla wake up and go downstairs sometime later. The group makes plans to travel to Abilene later that day to visit Makahla’s mother. Makahla said, “It was going to be a good day.”
  • 2:15-2:45 p.m. Makahla and Jordon leave baby Breyla with Jekaris to go to Walmart to pick up pre-mixed formula for the infant. The two also travel to Richard Bryant’s house to retrieve Jordan’s phone charger. Jekaris was alone with Breyla for at least half an hour. It is during this time forensic pathologists suggest Breyla died. Jekaris first told investigators to have taken a shower for the majority of the time, while Breyla slept in her bassinet. Later, Jekaris says he fed Breyla, who began choking and vomiting from the formula. Jekaris says he patted her back and “shook her a little” to keep the child from choking. He apparently removed her clothes and wrapped her in a blanket after he thought she “fell asleep.”
  • 2:56 p.m. Jordan has a 5 minute FaceTime call with her mom in Las Vegas to show off baby Breyla who appears to be sleeping in the upstairs bedroom, wrapped in a blanket.
  • 3 p.m. (approximately) Makahla asks Jekaris to bring Breyla downstairs to get ready to go on a trip to Abilene to visit Makahla’s mother. Jekaris brings Breyla downstairs, wrapped in a blanket, and holds her in his lap. Two neighbors visit, one, a young child, asks to see baby Breyla. He looks at the child who appears to be sleeping in Jekaris’ lap wrapped in a blanket and calls her “an angel.” The neighbors leave, and Jekaris asks if the baby “looks pale” as he places her in a swing. Makahla checks the child and is unable to get the baby to move. She then removes Breyla from the swing and notices she’s not breathing and can’t find a heartbeat. Makahla then takes the baby, and runs to the car, followed by Jordon and Jekaris.
  • 3:24 p.m. Jordon calls 911 while in the car with Makahla and Jekaris transporting Breyla to the hospital. They arrive at the hospital shortly after the call was placed.
  • 3:38 p.m. Brownwood Police Officer Gary Villalpando responds to the ER regarding the 911 call. Villalpando makes contact with Makahla and Jekaris, reports Makahla was extremely distraught while Jekaris seemed upset but more calm, according to the officer’s report.
  • 4 p.m. Baby Breyla is pronounced dead after medical staff is unable to revive her. The family is allowed to say their last goodbyes before the infant was sent for an autopsy after doctors have concerns regarding her death.
  • 6 p.m. (approximately) Detective Harold Thomas and an investigative team travel with Jekaris and his father, Richard, to his apartment to examine the home. Several photos are taken, and investigators do note the shower does not appear to have been used recently.

December 17, 2015 – Detective Harold Thomas questions Makahla, Jordan, and Jekaris regarding the events of the day of Breyla’s death.

December 19, 2015 – Breyla Ann Bryant is buried at Greenleaf Cemetery in Brownwood.

January 20, 2016 – Jekaris Bryant meets with Texas Ranger Jason Shea in his office to discuss the details of Breyla’s death.

In the recorded one-hour long interview, Jekaris first tells Ranger Shea that he, Makahla, Jordon, and baby Breyla returned home after the party at Richard Bryant’s house around 11 p.m. Jekaris said they watched a movie, and then went to bed. He tells Ranger Shea he woke up the next morning at 6 a.m. He at first never mentions going downstairs to “hang out” with Jordon.

When asked whether he fed the baby while the girls were at Walmart, Jekaris tells Ranger Shea he did not. Several times throughout the conversation, Ranger Shea reminded Jekaris that he had previously told doctors in the emergency room that he had fed Breyla at least twice, once just minutes before her arrival at the hospital. In the video Jekaris frequently denies feeding the baby, saying, “I know for a fact I didn’t feed her that whole day.” Jekaris claimed to have been in the shower while Breyla slept in her bassinet during the time Makahla and Jordon were at Walmart. Ranger Shea noted that would have been a long shower, nearly 30 minutes.

After being reminded several times it was documented by medical staff that Jekaris had told them he fed the baby at least twice, his story began to change. In the interview video, Jekaris then told Ranger Shea he did feed the baby, but she started choking, spitting up. He then explained he tried to save his daughter by patting her back and gently shaking her. “The look in her eyes,” Jekaris told Ranger Shea. “I didn’t know what to do.” He then told Ranger Shea the baby closed her eyes, and he thought she had gone to sleep. He took off her clothes, saying they had been soiled with formula, covered her in a blanket and put her in the bassinet.

Ranger Shea asked if Jekaris had told Makahla what happened, and he admitted he had not.

January 21, 2016 – Jekaris Bryant is indicted for Capital Murder regarding the death of his daughter, 4 week old Breyla Ann Bryant.

January 22, 2016 – Jekaris Bryant is arrested, charged with murdering Breyla, and transported to the Brown County Jail, held in lieu of a $500,000 bond.

April 7, 2016 – Judge Stephen Ellis holds a bond reduction hearing at the request of Bryant’s defense team. Bryant claimed to be “penniless” and owned only clothing items. Judge Ellis ordered evaluations to determine Bryant’s intelligence level, including psychiatric and psychological evaluations, to determine Bryant’s competency for trial.

June 22, 2016 – Jekaris Bryant was released from the Brown County Jail through the Brown County Indigent Defense program. Bryant was placed on house arrest in the home of his father, Richard, with an ankle monitor.

August 5, 2016 – Jekaris Bryant reported to be competent to stand trial after evaluations were completed to determine Bryant’s intelligence level, and psychiatric and psychological state.

January 24, 2017 – Trial begins.