Friends of Incarcerated Mom Took in Her 3-Year-Old Girl, Then 'Tortured Her to Death'

Candi Royer and Travis Brown have both been sentenced to life in prison for the torture and murder of a 3-year-old girl who was left in their care by her incarcerated mother.

On Thursday, Royer was given a life sentence after previously pleading guilty to first-degree murder back in September. This just one week after Brown was given a life sentence without the possibility for parole for murder and a 20-year sentence for child abuse; he was also found guilty of child cruelty, concealing a dead body, and conspiracy.

Both were caregivers for Khaleesi Cuthriell, the 3-year-old daughter of Amanda Mullen, who was jailed in 2020 for a probation violation. After Child Protective Services denied requests for the child to live with her father or Mullen's sister, it was Mullen who suggested Royer, a friend and sometimes babysitter for Khaleesi.

According to the Staunton News Leader, during the trial, it was revealed CPS still placed the child with Royer despite knowing she was on home electronic monitoring for a criminal conviction. CPS was also unaware Brown lived in the residence ... and the department never returned to the home to check on the child after dropping her off.

A phone call between Mullen and her daughter, as well as graphic video of the abuse Khaleesi suffered at the home from January 12, 2021 were shown in court during the trial and sentencing hearings for both Royer and Brown.

In the call, Mullen tells her daughter, "I love you. I can't wait to see you. Mommy misses you" -- before Khlaeesi responds, "I love you, Mommy."

Later that day, Royer filmed Khaleesi "frightened, confused and weakened" -- per the Staunton News Leader --  "being verbally berated by Royer and forced to stand naked in a dry bathtub amid her own feces." In the video, she reportedly told the girl to "stand up" and said, "No one likes you, Khaleesi."

Evidence in trial showed the child was covered in cuts, bruises and had been burned, with most of her hair missing. It's unclear when she was killed, but prosecutors believe she died in January 2021. "Over the ensuing three months, they tortured her to death," Augusta County prosecutor Tim Martin said in court.

The child wouldn't be reported missing until September 2021, after Mullen -- who lost contact with her daughter's caregivers -- saw on television in prison that Royer had also disappeared. At the time, Royer and Brown were on a crime spree, according to authorities, and were eventually arrested that month at a motel in Pennsylvania; Khaleesi was not with them.

Bloodstains containing Khaleesi's DNA were later found at the couple's home, as well as a wire hanger with a handle made of tape -- which has Royer's DNA on it as well.

After their arrests, Brown reportedly first said CPS had taken the child in January 2021, before eventually admitting she died. He then claimed Khaleesi killed herself by slamming her head into a doorframe. He also claimed he "tried so hard" to resuscitate her, but failed ... before wrapping her in a blanket and throwing her into a trash can. Both Brown and Royer denied killing the child, though Royer admitted, "I take full responsibility for my lack of action ... I failed her."

The child's body has not been found, with Royer saying in court, "If I could tell [Mullen] where Khaleesi was, I would."

“I thought she’d be safe. I thought you were my friends," Mullen said during Brown's trial last week, asking him to reveal where her child's remains are because the girl "deserves to be buried where someone knows where she is."

During Royer's sentencing hearing, Mullen also said she couldn't understand how her onetime friend could "do something so horrible when you have children of your own."

Brown said he plans to appeal his conviction; Royer, meanwhile, will be eligible for geriatric parole when she turns 65.