A Houston man failed to appear in court this week for his sentencing in the fatal 2022 shooting of an 18-year-old girl.
Zakorian Batiste, who was 17 at the time, was reportedly playing with a loaded gun in a South Harris County apartment when he accidentally shot Nariah Champion. Champion, who was planning to pursue a career in law, was just months away from graduating high school.
“It’s a pain that never goes away. It’s like an open wound,” said Nariah’s mother, Keisha Shields.
Batiste had pleaded guilty to manslaughter in May and was scheduled for sentencing on Wednesday. He had been out on bond, wearing an ankle monitor, when police say he committed a robbery on August 4, during a Facebook Marketplace sale involving a PlayStation.
“I was happy because I thought, ‘Now, his true character is showing.’ I always knew it was there,” Shields added.
Despite being charged with robbery on August 23, Batiste wasn’t immediately arrested, even though he was still wearing the ankle monitor. However, court documents show the monitor stopped working on August 26.
His bond was revoked, and a warrant was issued for his arrest, but Batiste did not turn himself in or attend the sentencing hearing.
“You made your choices, now you need to face the consequences like a man,” said Nariah’s father, Jonathan Champion.
Shields expressed her concern: “He’s a disaster waiting to happen again.”
Batiste had already caused irreversible pain to Nariah’s parents. “I’ll never know what she could have become,” her father said. “She always told me, ‘Daddy, I’m going to be the one.'”
As of Sunday, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Batiste is now in custody.
