Trigger Warning: This article contains references to the alleged child abuse that some readers may find distressing.
A Texas woman was found guilty by the jurors in the 19th State District Court of McLennan County after she beat her two daughters and another girl she was babysitting in 2023. The court found the babysitter guilty on August 4, 2026, on three counts of injury to the child.
Identified as 34-year-old Katrina Lanett Evans, she tried to defend the child abuse and told Child Protective Services agents, “When you are in a rage and just popping, you don’t know your own strength and how hard you are hitting a baby.”
She hit the two-year-old child while potty training, getting angry because the child was not behaving. Evans was arrested in August 2024 and charged with one count of injury to a child in the first degree and two counts of injury to a child in the third degree.
She was a former fast-food cook who was babysitting the two-year-old, along with her daughters, who were three and five years old at the time. Her trial began on Monday, August 3. She took the witness stand, still trying to prove her innocence. She claimed the nurses who cared for the injured girls, CPS workers, and her own eight-year-old were liars.
View this post on Instagram
Her eldest daughter testified in court and told the judge that the mother used to beat her everywhere. She would beat both the girls with stocks and a towel rod. After that, the eight-year-old started to cry uncontrollably. The girls are currently living with their aunt.
According to Amber Bracken, a former Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer, Evans tried to fake her own death while she was under investigation. Bracken was helping her children while they were in CPS custody.
After the two-year-old’s mother saw her injuries, she took her to a hospital in Marlin and then shifted to a children’s hospital in Temple. She had been babysitting her for three months while taking night shifts at Whataburger.
Prosecutors claimed in court that the defendant hit the girl hard and left her jaw and bones in the wrist and hand broken. Jurors were also presented with graphic photographs of the three children during the trial.
The Falls Community Hospital nurse who testified in court revealed the child had bruises and scratches “from her head to her toes.” In addition, the nurse claimed the child had circular white scars on the skin that may have been due to cigarette burns. She noticed some U-shaped scars as well, suggesting Evans hit the child with a belt buckle.
There were signs of long-term child abuse and physical trauma, and Evans failed to provide medical care to the children. Her own children also had bruises on their ribs, backs, and legs. She used to hit them with a metal towel rack, clothes hangers, shoes, and switches.
Closing arguments are scheduled in the sentencing phase for Evans, who was found guilty of multiple counts of injury to a child. She faces five years to life on a first-degree felony conviction, plus up to ten years for each of two third-degree felony convictions.
Prosecutors Maddie Beach and Will Hix, alongside defense attorney Jason P. Darling, will present final arguments to the court on Wednesday, August 6, 2026. This is an ongoing case while Evans remains in prison in McLennan County Jail on a combined $254,000 bond. She may face up to 99 years in prison, considering the extreme child abuse.
Disclaimer: The Inquisitr could not independently confirm the facts of this incident and is reporting based on the information available within the public record.
