A motion-activated security camera inside Warren Houston’s apartment recorded a fatal attack in which his two dogs killed his 3-year-old daughter.
The footage was shown on April 16, the fourth day of Houston’s bench trial in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.
According to testimony, the child, Kingsley Wright, could be heard crying and screaming for about 20 minutes during the incident. At one point she pleaded for it to stop. After roughly 25 minutes, there were no further sounds.
The incident occurred in the early morning hours of December 27, 2024, at a Roselawn apartment. Kingsley had been sleeping on a couch about 10 to 15 feet from where two dogs were kept in a crate. Prosecutors said the crate had two latches, but the lower latch was not functioning properly.
Testimony described the dogs, identified as pit bull terriers weighing about 37 and 52 pounds, as having escaped the crate. They then encountered the child on the couch and attacked her inside the living room.
At the time, Houston and his girlfriend were in a bedroom with the door closed. Prosecutors said a second dog in the home was kept separately.
The judge overseeing the case did not allow the video or audio to be recorded, calling it “uniquely graphic,” and restricted its public reproduction. The recording was shown only on a screen facing the judge.
Court observers said Houston was briefly present during the playback but could not see the screen. When the audio of his daughter crying was heard, he lowered his head and began sobbing, and was later permitted to leave the courtroom while the remainder of the video was played.
Investigators said Houston told them he had found one of the dogs months earlier and believed it had been used as a bait dog in dog fighting. He said he had not previously had issues with either animal.
He also said he slept through the night of the incident and did not hear anything happening in the apartment.
Earlier that year, Houston learned through a paternity test that Kingsley was his daughter. She had been staying with him for the first time and had celebrated Christmas with him shortly before the incident.
The trial is scheduled to continue on April 17. Houston, 46, faces charges including involuntary manslaughter and child endangering.