The 911 call came in at 11:30 p. m. on April 11, 2019, from a neighbor who heard violent yelling and the sound of people striking each other inside a mobile home at the Riverside Mobile Home Park in Wichita, Kansas.
The caller, Shannon Higgins, told dispatchers he heard a woman wailing in a way that made his stomach sink, then saw a man pushing a woman inside and shutting the door. That was the last night anyone would hear two-year-old Zayden Javanovich alive.
Inside that trailer, officers found Zayden lying face down in a pack-and-play playpen, his tiny body wrapped tightly in a beige blanket, cold to the touch. His body temperature was just 94. 9 degrees.
He was not breathing. When an officer unwrapped him, they discovered the sleeves of his footed pajamas had been tied in a knot around his throat, trapping his arms inside the garment. The toddler’s body was covered in bruises in all stages of healing—black, blue, purple, green—evidence of sustained 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮 over time.
He was severely malnourished.
The medical examiner later determined that Zayden weighed just under 15 pounds at the time of his death. The average two-year-old boy weighs about 27 pounds. Zayden weighed less than what a healthy four-month-old should weigh.
Toxicology tests revealed crystal methamphetamine in the little boy’s brain. The official cause of death was dehydration and malnutrition, ruled a homicide. His body had already begun to decompose, indicating he had been left in that state for hours.
The couple responsible for Zayden’s death were his father, 26-year-old Patrick Robert Javanovich, and his girlfriend, 22-year-old Brandy Kai Marchant. They lived in the 4500 block of South Hydraulic Avenue with their two children: Zayden and his four-month-old half-brother, Tai. The baby was found wedged under a pillow in his crib, surrounded by stuffed animals, and weighed only eight pounds—the average weight of a newborn.
He had bruises on his left ear, a swollen jaw, two healing rib fractures, and a severe diaper rash that caused a yeast infection.
The Wichita Police Department was no stranger to this family. Over the previous 18 months, officers had responded to calls about the household 22 times. Many of those calls came from concerned neighbors, Patrick’s mother Donna Lloyd, and even the couple themselves.
The history of domestic violence, mental health crises, and child endangerment was long and documented.
In March 2018, Donna Lloyd called dispatchers to report that Brandy had slapped her 11-month-old grandson, Zayden. “She slapped my 11 month old grandbaby. You guys came out and didn’t do a damn thing about it.
That baby was over here for two days with her fingerprints on his face. When he’s 11 months old, she needs some kind of psychotic help. There’s something wrong with her, and this is not healthy for my grandbaby.
He’s just a one-year-old,” Lloyd said.
In February 2019, just two months before Zayden’s death, officers responded to another call. Patrick and Brandy were arguing outside their trailer. The fight, according to conflicting reports, started because Brandy was annoyed that Zayden had been crying nonstop the day before.
She complained she was cold but refused to go inside because the house was a mess. Officers conducted a welfare check and found the children inside. They observed Tai wedged under a pillow and Zayden lying face down, cold, and unresponsive.
It was too late.
The couple was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and aggravated child endangerment. A second child endangerment charge was added for starving baby Tai. They were held on $200,000 bond.
In June 2019, Patrick was attacked by another inmate and required brain surgery. He was deemed incompetent to stand trial and sent to Larned State Hospital, the largest psychiatric facility in Kansas.
In July 2022, Patrick Javanovich and Brandy Marchant pleaded guilty to reduced charges of second-degree reckless homicide, aggravated kidnapping, and child endangerment. They were sentenced to 322 months in prison—nearly 27 years. Upon release, they will be required to register as violent offenders.
At the time of sentencing, Brandy was 26 and Patrick was 31. If they serve their full sentences, they will be 53 and 58 years old when they get out, still free to live out their lives, even though they stole Zayden’s future.
The 911 call that night was not the first. It was the culmination of a pattern of neglect, 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮, and systemic failure. The medical examiner’s report noted that Zayden’s abrasions on his face looked like someone had held a pillow over him or forced his face down onto something by pushing on the back of his head.
The meth in his brain was a horrifying detail that underscored the depth of the depravity he endured.
Brandy’s defense claimed she had been under the weather and had restrained Zayden in his pajamas so he couldn’t escape his playpen and cry at the door. She texted Patrick the day before: “I am losing it. I need to stay somewhere.
Zayden just won’t stop. I can’t even watch effing TV, and he had three bags of oatmeal and two things of yogurt, and he is still screaming.” She claimed she went to bed at 6 a.
m. and slept through the day, unaware her son was dead. Patrick said he fed Zayden in the morning before work and never saw him again.
The trailer’s cupboards and fridge were bare. There was no food. The officers noted the absence of any sustenance for the children.
Baby Tai, the four-month-old half-brother, was taken into custody by Child Protective Services and, thankfully, made a full recovery. His biological father, Julius Cassara, had been denied access to his son by Brandy, who refused to put his name on the birth certificate. Julius, who goes by “Juice” on Facebook, said he had no idea his son was being abused.
“If I was aware of any of that, I would have reported it. I would have done something. Brandy didn’t strike me as the kind of person that would do anything like this,” he said.
As of 2020, Julius regained full custody of his little boy.
Zayden Patrick Javanovich was laid to rest in White Chapel Memorial Gardens in Wichita beneath a granite gravestone engraved with a teddy bear holding two balloons and the inscription: “In loving memory, Zayden Patrick Javanovich, Bubba, March 8, 2017 to April 11, 2019.”
The case has drawn widespread outrage and sorrow. The true crime community, including creators like Lane from “Suffer the Little Children,” has covered the story extensively, highlighting the systemic failures that allowed a child to be starved, beaten, and poisoned with meth while social services and law enforcement had multiple opportunities to intervene. The 22 calls for help over 18 months included reports of Brandy threatening suicide, holding a knife to her own throat while pregnant, and slapping a baby.
Yet no action was taken to remove the children from the home.
The Wichita Police Department and Child Protective Services have faced scrutiny over their handling of the case. The 911 calls revealed a pattern of domestic violence, mental illness, and child endangerment that was known to authorities. In one call, Brandy admitted to smacking her son.
In another, Patrick called because Brandy had put a knife to her throat. The dispatchers heard arguments, accusations of infidelity, and sounds of scuffles. Yet the children remained in the home.
The toxicology finding of crystal meth in Zayden’s brain shocked even seasoned investigators. It was a clear indication that the child had been 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓮𝓭 to the 𝒹𝓇𝓊𝑔, likely through ingestion or inhalation. The combination of starvation, dehydration, physical 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮, and 𝒹𝓇𝓊𝑔 exposure painted a picture of unimaginable suffering.
The sentencing hearing in July 2022 was emotional. Family members of the victims spoke of the pain and loss. The judge, in handing down the 322-month sentence, noted the severity of the crimes and the failure of the defendants to protect the most vulnerable.
The plea deal spared them a life sentence but ensured they would spend decades behind bars.
The case of Zayden Javanovich is a stark reminder of the importance of vigilance and the need for stronger child protection systems. The neighbor who called 911 that night did the right thing, but it was too late for the little boy who had already been left to rot in his playpen, his body failing, his brain poisoned by meth. The memory of Zayden, Bubba, lives on as a call to action for all who hear his story.
