Authorities say the father of the woman’s unborn child has been charged and remains at large.
HOUSTON, Texas — Houston police were searching Friday for a 24-year-old man charged in the death of a missing 23-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant, a case that drew days of public concern before a body was found in southwest Houston.
Investigators say Kevin Faux is accused in the death of Ashanti Allen, who disappeared April 10 after last being seen leaving her home near Main Street and McNee Road. Police said Allen’s pregnancy was high-risk, adding urgency to the search. By Friday, authorities said Faux, identified as the father of Allen’s unborn baby, had been charged and was still not in custody, leaving the case centered on both a homicide investigation and an active manhunt.
Allen was reported missing after relatives and search volunteers spent days trying to find her. Texas EquuSearch, a search-and-recovery group that joined the effort, said members had worked through the week looking for signs of the young woman, whose disappearance quickly spread through Houston-area television reports and social media posts. On Thursday morning, police and searchers found a body near Chimney Rock Road in southwest Houston, close to a community center and park area. Authorities did not immediately make a formal public identification at the scene, but Allen’s family said the victim was Ashanti Allen. Search-group statements also said they believed her unborn child, whom relatives had been expecting within weeks, had died as well.
Police said Faux was first charged with murder, while later Houston television reports said the charge was upgraded to capital murder as investigators refined the case. Authorities have publicly identified him as the father of Allen’s unborn child. Court records cited by local news outlets show Faux had prior assault cases, including one tied to Allen last year. FOX 26 reported that he pleaded guilty in February to a reduced misdemeanor family-assault charge after a 2025 case that had originally been filed as a felony. Investigators have not publicly laid out a full account of Allen’s final hours, and police have not released a cause of death while they await autopsy findings.
The case struck a wider nerve in Houston because Allen’s disappearance had already been treated as urgent before her body was found. Texas EquuSearch said her pregnancy was considered high-risk, and volunteers spent several days helping relatives search for answers. Her father, Edward Allen, spoke with reporters after the discovery and described the shock of learning his daughter had been found dead. He said the family had hoped she would come home safely and said she had been excited about becoming a mother. Those remarks, carried by local and national outlets, added a deeply personal layer to a case already being watched as a missing-person search turned into a homicide investigation.
What comes next depends on when police find Faux and what medical examiners conclude from the autopsy. Authorities said Friday that he remained at large, and investigators were asking for information about his whereabouts as they continued building the case. A charging decision does not end the investigation, and police still have not publicly answered key questions about where Allen was killed, how long her body had been at the southwest Houston location, or what evidence tied Faux to the case. Any future court appearance would likely bring more detail from prosecutors about the timeline, witness accounts and physical evidence behind the charge.
At the scene and in the days after Allen vanished, the story carried the kind of sorrow that often shadows missing-person cases but became sharper once relatives realized the search would not end in a rescue. Family members had been preparing for a birth and instead began planning a funeral. Search volunteers who had spent days combing through leads issued public condolences after the recovery. Edward Allen, speaking about his daughter, said her life had direction and that she was looking forward to motherhood. Those comments helped define how the case was being understood across Houston: not only as a criminal investigation, but as the loss of a young woman and her unborn child just weeks before delivery.
The investigation remained active Friday, with Houston police searching for Faux and awaiting autopsy results that could shape the next public update in the case.
Author note: Last updated April 17, 2026.