Texas
‘Very precious:’ Baby boy killed by Texas death row inmate Travis James Mullis was loved
In his short 3 months on Earth, baby Alijah was cherished, especially by his mother and grandmother. Alijah was killed at the hands of his own father, death row inmate Travis James Mullis.
This story includes a graphic description of crimes committed against an infant.
The son of a Texas death row inmate set to be executed this week never got the chance to make it out of infancy, dying at the hands of his own father over a decade ago.
There was no one more “extraordinarily beautiful” in the eyes of doting grandmother Carolyn Entriken than her grandson, 3-month-old Alijah James Mullis, who was born in October 2007, according to a March 2011 court transcript obtained by USA TODAY.
“He had steel blue eyes, cute little reddish hair,” Entriken told the court. “I know all babies are beautiful … He just was very precious.”
Entriken did make it out to Houston once before her grandson was tragically killed, spending some time in the area with her daughter, Caren Kohberger, Alijah and the baby’s father, Travis James Mullis.
But on Jan. 29, 2008, Entriken got a phone call no grandmother should ever get, learning from her daughter that Alijah had been killed.
She flew out the next morning to be with Kohberger, who was “pretty numb” after the death of her son and a confession from Mullis that he killed and abandoned Alijah at Galveston’s Seawall, a popular tourist destination just south of Houston.
Mullis is scheduled to be executed in Texas on Tuesday, about 16 years after he destroyed the only family he ever knew. Entriken died 14 years after Alijah in 2022, and Alijah’s mother declined to be interviewed.
As Mullis’ execution approaches, USA TODAY is looking back at the tragic crime and how perfect little Alijah was before his life was ended far too soon.
They looked like any young family
When Entriken learned that her daughter was pregnant in May 2007, she had some concerns. Up until then, she had been helping her daughter cover the cost of living expenses.
“My concerns were that she didn’t have many resources at that time. I didn’t know anything about the father of the baby,” said Entiken, who helped the couple out with whatever she could, whenever she could.
Entriken still remembered the day her daughter called her from the hospital in late October 2007 to share the news of Alijah’s birth.
“And (Alijah) must have been in the room with her. He was crying like a baby would. And I was very emotional now that he was here,” Entriken testified in March 2011.
Entriken didn’t officially meet her grandson until December that year, taking a trip from her home in norther New Jersey down to Houston with her second husband. They spent the weekend making memories, spending a lot of time on the beach in Galveston.
Mullis, according to Entriken, seemed “very loving and caring.”
“I have pictures that show his mannerisms that day. He had his arms around my daughter. They were being playful. He looked very loving,” Entriken said. “They looked like a young family out on an outing.”
Entriken had hoped to return to Texas in a few months for another visit with the young couple and her grandbaby, whom she described as “very calm”
“I wanted to come back and see Alijah,” Entriken said. “I didn’t want too much time to go by where he was growing up without my seeing him.”
Texas couple in disbelief after finding baby Alijah
The day that ripped Entriken’s family apart, Jesse Zaro and his wife were enjoying a day off, heading to the Galveston seawall after dropping their kids off at school, according to a court transcript.
The couple took trips to the beach often, collecting seashells or watching birds as they walked and talked.
The morning of Jan. 29, 2008 was no different. They stopped at a local donut shop, picking up a sweet treat before they made their way to the seawall. Zaro drove toward the “hurricane levee,” getting up on the wall to avoid dump trucks that were whizzing by.
Zaro was “cruising real slow” when saw what he initially thought was an abandoned doll when he looked to his left. There was something in him that told him he “better take a look at this.” So he pulled over, telling his wife to stay in the car.
What Zaro didn’t know at the time was that he had stumbled on Alijah, who had been choked, molested and stomped to death by his father.
“It was laying there. And it hurts my heart talking about this. I walked up to it and I was like ‘Oh God.’ I looked down and something hit my heart,” Zaro testified in March 2011. “It was like all the wind just left me. ‘God, it’s the horror. It was the horror, man.’”
He ran toward the car and waved at a passing dump truck to no avail, forgetting that they had a cellphone because “everything was going in slow motion.”
Zaro contacted authorities immediately.
“’Oh, my God. It’s a baby. I think it’s a baby. I can’t believe it. The baby’s dead,” according to an excerpt of Zaro’s 911 called used by the prosecution at trial. “I can’t believe it. Who would do this to a baby?”
What’s going to happen to Travis Mullis?
Following Alijah’s murder, Mullis convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Texas is set to execute him by lethal injection on Tuesday, which would make him the fourth person executed in the state this year and the 15th or 16th in the nation, depending on whether he’s declared dead before or after Marcellus Williams, another inmate set for execution in Missouri on the same day.
A Facebook page started to “honor and show love” to baby Alijah has photos and posts about him through 2020. One of them reads: “We love and miss you always, baby boy.”
A Brazilian fitness influencer has died after getting into difficulty during the swimming portion of an ironman event in Texas.
Mara Flavia Souza Araujo was reported as a “lost swimmer” around 7.30am at the Ironman Texas in Lake Woodlands near Houston on Saturday. According to KPRC 2 News, safety crews could not immediately locate Araujo. The 38-year-old’s body was discovered around 90 minutes later in 10ft of water by divers. She was pronounced dead on the scene.
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department confirmed her identity in a statement to NBC on Monday.
“MCSO can confirm that Mara Flavia Souza Araujo, 38, of Brazil died while competing in the Ironman event in The Woodlands on Saturday,” the sheriff’s department told NBC News. “Preliminary investigations indicate she drowned during the swimming portion of the event.”
Araujo was an experienced triathlete and had completed at least nine ironman events since 2018. She had more than 60,000 followers on Instagram and had posted about the importance of making the most out of life in the days before her death.
Allow Instagram content?
This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.
“Enjoy this ride on the bullet train that is life,” she wrote in Portuguese. “And even with the speed of the machine blurring the landscape, look out the window – for at any moment, the train will drop you off at the eternal station.”
Organizers of the race expressed their condolences on Saturday.
“We send our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the athlete and will offer them our support as they go through this very difficult time,” race organizers said in a statement on Saturday. “Our gratitude goes out to the first responders for their assistance.”
A glamorous triathlete who drowned during an Ironman competition in Texas shared a photo from a swimming pool during a final training session just two days before the tragic race.
Brazilian influencer Mara Flávia, 38, shared the shot of her on the edge of a pool on Thursday — two days before she vanished during an open-water swim in The Woodlands Saturday morning.
“Just another day at work,” Flávia, 38, wrote in Portuguese alongside the pic of her wearing a matching pink swimming costume and cap.
The influencer, who had more than 60,000 followers online, chose the Robin S track “Show Me Love” for her post with the hashtags “triathlon,” “swimming” and “triathlete.”
Flávia vanished during an open-water swim in The Woodlands Saturday morning – the first of three grueling trials that competitors face during the 140-mile race.
Fire crews were told about a “lost swimmer” at around 7:30 a.m., one hour into the pro-female swim, KPRC reported.
Rescuers battled challenging visibility conditions before Flávia’s body was pulled from the water just after 9:30 a.m.
Montgomery County Sheriffs confirmed that the victim “drowned while participating in the swim portion of the event,” according to a statement. The office said its Major Crimes unit will continue the investigation “per normal protocols.”
Shawn McDonald, a volunteer, recounted the commotion before the swimmer’s body was recovered.
The dad, who volunteered with his daughter Mila, 12, said a group of younger volunteers in a kayak raised a flag and blew their whistles, “yelling for help.”
“I heard them say she went under,” he wrote on Facebook.
“I had Mila hand me the paddle and I started calling out to the athletes around us to stop so I could cross. I made my way over in about 30 seconds.
“When I got there and asked what happened, they all said the same thing: She went under. Right here. Right below us. The panic and fear on their faces won’t leave me for a long time.”
The volunteer recalled how one man had a “thousand-yard stare” on his face – before diving into the water in a desperate bid to find Flávia.
“I dove in immediately and began searching. After about a minute underwater, I felt her body with my foot. I surfaced, took what seemed like the deepest breath I have ever taken and went back down. She was gone.”
Boats with sonar combed the area – and McDonald was told to leave the water before the body was recovered.
“The victim was found in about 10 feet of water on the bottom of the lake,” Buck said. “The dive team accessed the victim, brought her up about 9:37 and then brought her over to the shore where she was pronounced DOS [deceased on scene],” Palmer Buck, the Woodlands fire chief, said.
It’s not known what caused the triathlete to go under the water.
Journalism grad Flávia previously worked in radio and television before pursuing a sporting career at age 28.
She previously twice won the Brazilian Grand Prix, and finished third in the Brasilia triathlon event.
Lady Vols basketball is looking to add more pieces to its 2026-27 roster with high-level experience. After completing her junior season at Texas A&M, Fatmata Janneh has emerged as a Tennessee target for her final year of eligibility. According to her Instagram story on Sunday night, she is in Knoxville.
With the Aggies a year ago, the 6-foot-2 forward averaged 11.4 points per game on 43.3% shooting from the field. She also showed off an ability to hit from range, posting 1.1 makes per game on 33% shooting from three.
Perhaps Janneh’s biggest strength is her rebounding, though. She ripped down 9.7 boards per contest, good for the fifth-most in the SEC. This featured 2.6 rebounds on the offensive end per outing.
Janneh also averaged 1.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.4 blocks per game. She appeared in 27 games, starting in each.
More From RTI: How Watching The NCAA Tournament Drew Terrence Hill Jr. To Tennessee Basketball
Janneh started her career with a pair of seasons at St. Peter’s. As a sophomore, she averaged a double-double, posting 18.2 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. This made her a sought-after transfer in the portal before landing at Texas A&M as the nation’s leading defensive rebounder. As a freshman, she averaged 11.0 points and 8.0 rebounds.
The forward is from London, England, attending Barking Abbey Sixth Form for her prep ball. She would be the second player from England to join the Tennessee roster if she committed. UT also added the commitment of incoming freshman and former Boston College signee Irene Oboavwoduo this offseason.
So far, Caldwell and the Lady Vols have landed five transfers in this portal cycle. This features Liberty guard Avery Mills, Northern Arizona guard Naomi White, Stanford forward Harper Peterson and Georgia forward Zhen Craft and guard Rylie Theuerkauf.
Tennessee will also roster a pair of incoming freshmen. Four-star recruit and top-50 prospect Gabby Minus is staying true to her signing despite the roster overhaul and assistant coaching changes, along with the addition of Oboavwoduo.
-
Lifestyle3 minutes agoHow ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ Red Carpet Looks Came Together
-
Technology15 minutes agoThe Vergecast Vergecast, 2026 edition
-
World21 minutes agoMexico pyramid shooter who took hostages and killed 1 is identified
-
Politics27 minutes agoByron Donalds cracks down on persistent border blind spot leaving US vulnerable to overstays
-
Health33 minutes agoHealthy diets spark lung cancer risk in non-smokers as pesticides loom
-
Sports39 minutes agoPGA Tour signals new era with axing of Hawaii events from schedule
-
Technology45 minutes agoAlexa+ lets you order food like a real conversation
-
Business51 minutes agoNew lawsuit alleges Uber is violating drivers’ rights. Here’s how