I Was RIGHT!!!
By: Tommy “Tj” Sotomayor

Octavious Bass says he never got a chance to experience what it’s like to be a girl dad and talked with ABC13 about the last time he saw little Maliyah. Watch the interview aboveHOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Months after 2-year-old Maliyah Bass was found dead in Brays Bayou, police have arrested and charged her mother and her mother’s boyfriend.

Maliyah was initially at the center of an Amber Alert after her mother said she left the toddler alone on the playground outside of their apartment for a couple of minutes while she cooked breakfast the morning of Aug. 22.

Now, Houston police announced they have arrested Sahara Ervin, 20, and Travion Thompson, 21, for their alleged roles in the girl’s death. They are charged with injury to a child and tampering with evidence, according to Houston police.

Sahara Ervin, 20, and Travion Thompson, 21, are in custody and charged with injury to a child & tampering with evidence in the death of Ervin’s daughter, Maliyah Bass

The 2-year-old’s father lives in Dallas and said he got a call from detectives that day when he got off work.

“He asked, ‘Do you have your daughter?'” Octavious Bass recalled. “I was like, ‘No’ and they were like, ‘She’s been missing since 7:00 this morning.’ In my mind, I was wondering what is a child doing outside at 7 o’clock in the morning.”

Bass said he never imagined the 2-year-old would be found dead.

Watch the video above to hear the grandmother of Maliyah “Tootie” Bass describe where the 2-year-old was last seen.

“When I found out, all I could do was break down and really cry, because it hurt my heart because I only really got to see her one time,” Bass said.

Bass said the last time he saw Maliyah was in 2019 when he had her in Dallas for about a month.

Bass said he called Maliyah’s maternal grandmother the day before the girl was reported missing, asking if he could bring her back to Dallas to spend time with him.

After hearing the story given to police about the child being left alone on a playground, he is asking, “Why?”

RELATED: Foul play ‘highly suspected’ after body believed to be missing 2-year-old found in bayou

“They say she walked in the house for five minutes to cook breakfast and she came out and she was gone,” Bass said. “It doesn’t matter if it was five minutes, two minutes, one minute – why would you do that?”