Another excellent job by Allison Wetzel and the TCDA's office. I wonder who he's gonna sue now?

Man gets 55 years in son's shaking death
Prosecutors play jailhouse recordings of Zavian Thomas' phone calls.

By Asher Price

A jury sentenced an Austin man to 55 years in prison on Wednesday, a day after finding him guilty in the 2006 death of his 4-month-old son.

Zavian Thomas, 22, was convicted of injury to a child and must serve at least half of his sentence before he becomes eligible for parole.



Prosecutors had argued that Thomas shook his son at his Northeast Austin duplex on May 28, 2006, causing severe brain injuries. Zavian Thomas Jr. died three days later after being taken off life support.

Before jurors decided Zavian Thomas' punishment on Wednesday, prosecutors played them recordings of phone conversations Thomas had with relatives from jail.

In the June 2006 conversations, Thomas said that after he was acquitted, he would sue the Austin Police Department, Brackenridge Hospital, Travis County and news outlets for at least $1 million. In another recording, he said he was looking forward to starting "a fresh, new life."

"I'm feeling good about life," he had told his girlfriend, Zavian Jr.'s mother.

The defense called Norris Thomas, a pastor and Zavian Thomas' father, who said that his son was a "proud father" who imagined Zavian Jr. playing sports and going to college.

"I know his personality, I know who he is, I know how he operates," Norris Thomas said. "He's not a threat to society by no means. He could be an upstanding citizen if given the chance."

Zavian Thomas' godfather, Reginald DeCuire, who is a Travis County corrections officer, said Thomas would make a good candidate for probation.

"Do you think Zavian is young and immature?" defense lawyer Edmund "Skip" Davis asked DeCuire.

"Yes, sir."

"Do you think he's salvageable?"

"Yes, sir, I do."

In their closing arguments, prosecutors said that Zavian Thomas, who had no prior felony convictions, deserved a long sentence for his crime.

"I've never seen a baby-killer who doesn't want mercy," prosecutor Allison Wetzel said. "He showed his baby no mercy, but he has enough nerve, or his lawyer has enough nerve, to ask for mercy."

The case had clearly divided family members. Rachel Russell, Zavian Jr.'s grandmother, testified for the prosecution, saying the infant was "a little baby on his way to being a strong, respectable man." Her daughter shouted at her after the verdict was read. Many other family members at the trial said the verdict was too harsh.

"The family's already been through one death, and now you're going to turn around and sentence him to 55 years?" DeCuire said.