Deer Park woman accused of beating her son - injuring him.

DEER PARK, TX (KTRK) -- A Deer Park mother is accused of causing serious bodily injury to her young son while beating him.

Court documents state on August 17 Melissa Nicole Gibbs punished her 10-year-old son for not doing the dishes by hitting him in the buttocks and upper thigh with a wooden paddle and spanking him with her hand. Police say the boy had extensive bruising to those areas, which was documented with photographs.

After the incident, the boy told two witnesses who took the photos and reported the alleged abuse. The boy told police the bruises were painful.

Investigators say Gibbs admitted that she hit the boy with a wood paddle and her hand and that the punishment was excessive.

Gibbs, 29, is charged with injury to a child.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Deer Park family talks of canine home invasion

KENS5 HOUSTON – For the second time in three weeks, a Deer Park family has been victimized by a canine home invasion.

The latest case happened Monday night in Deer Park. Darlene Trahan says she was cooking dinner with her 4-year-old grandson at her side when she heard a sound at the back door. Upon investigating, she says she found one of her neighbor’s pit bulls in her utility room.

It had come in through the doggie door.

"He was growling," said Trahan. "I shut the door and went back in the kitchen. I wasn’t going to deal with it."

The first time it happened, the couple’s 11-year-old dachshund was attacked and required more than $1,000 in vet care.

The Trahans want something done about their neighbor’s pit bulls.

"The city says they can’t do nothing about it," said Mike Trahan. "Bureaucratic bull crap I guess."

Deer Park’s City Manager says the owner, Jason Colvin, has been fined $150. The city also deemed one of his dogs dangerous, requiring it to be restrained or in a secured enclosure. Colvin must now carry $100,000 in liability insurance.

After the first incident, Colvin defended his pets.

"They’re people dogs," said Colvin. "They’re friendly. "They’re going to go into your house."

Mike Trahan says if the pit bulls go into his house again, they’ll be dead dogs.

Deer Park teen charged with manslaughter speaks out ...

DEER PARK, TX (KTRK) -- A teenage mom accused of manslaughter in a car crash that killed her friend speaks out about the charges against her. She's being prosecuted now, more than a year after the crash, after what the Deer Park Police Department called an incomplete investigation.For the first time the suspect in the deadly Deer Park wreck is speaking publicly about that night, her own injuries and about the charges against her.

"Honestly, that night... I don't remember anything from that night," Taylar Braden said. "Literally almost nothing."

This is the Taylar Braden you likely don't know.

"I'm a single mother of a two and a half year old son," she said.

The candid 19-year-old is still recovering from her own injuries in the wreck 12 months ago that killed her 18-year-old friend Andreaka Bell and has her charged with manslaughter.

"Andreaka is gone. I can't even put it into words or even begin to describe how I feel," Taylar said. "Regardless of how the family feels toward me, I still pray that they'll come to peace with this, because it is hard. I can't even begin to explain how they feel, because I don't know."

Taylar says she sustained brain injuries that have left her with a poor memory. Prosecutors say she was drunk and behind the wheel after leaving a party with two friends. Now she's worried about going to jail for something she doesn't remember."I don't even know if what they're saying is even

 true," she said.

The case against her is somewhat unusual in that Deer Park police admittedly failed to investigate the wreck properly when it happened in August 2011. The community cried foul, saying that police didn't value Andreaka Bell's life.

Officer Thomas Goodwin resigned from the force after his superiors determined he never completed the initial investigation. Her family, who did not want to respond to our interview with Taylar, called for justice and wants Taylar behind bars.

"Taylar is being prosecuted and to some extent she is being persecuted by the community," said defense attorney Paul Houston LaValle. "People are hating on her. They're sending her death threats. This is a very remorseful, very scared, very spiritual person."

Taylar said, "I pray about it, that maybe it'll just get better, people will see my side and they'll understand more."

Taylar Braden tells us she has apologized to Andreaka Bell's family. The family tells us they're not interested in anything other than Taylar being punished. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years behind bars. But her attorney believes prosecutors will have a difficult time convincing a jury that Taylar is guilty of any wrongdoing.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)