Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that State Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia has found 23-year-old Keona Owens of Buffalo guilty, as charged, on one count of Murder in the Second Degree, a Class “A” felony, and on one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree, a Class “B” felony.

On July 17, 2018, the defendant, while acting in concert with her boyfriend Bashar Hall, injured her son, 2 ½-year-old Xavion Hazzard, by beating him inside their home on Weaver Street in the City of Buffalo.

The child was pronounced dead at John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital. The medical examiner determined that the toddler died from multiple blunt force trauma.

Owens faces a maximum of 25 years to life in prison when she is sentenced by State Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia on Friday, May 10, 2019 at 11 a.m.

“This little boy was beaten to death by his own mother, the person who should have loved and cared for him,” said DA Flynn. “This was a horrific crime and I will be asking for the maximum when this defendant is sentenced.”

The jury trial for her co-defendant, Bashar Hall, is scheduled to begin on Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 9:30 a.m.

DA Flynn commends the Buffalo Police Department for their work in the investigation, including Det. Sgt. Carl Lundin, Detective Joy Jermain and retired Detective Brendan Kiefer.

The case was prosecuted by Colleen Curtin Gable, Chief of the DA’s Homicide Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Bethany A. Solek of the DA’s Special Victims Bureau.