Las Vegas pimp charged with the murder of his victim in Houston

HOUSTON - Police have charged a Las Vegas pimp with murder in Houston after his prostitute died while allegedly trying to escape from him on Houston’s West Loop South, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

Dejia Baxton, 23, died when she was hit by a car Sunday, and initially, police believed that the man who called 911 was her boyfriend, said prosecutors. Thursday prosecutors said they had enough evidence to conclude that the man was her pimp and her murderer.

Prosecutors say Deandros Finks’ trip to Houston will now be an extended stay behind bars, after the Las Vegas pimp was accused of killing one of the women he was trafficking.

Deandros Finks is charged in the murder of one of his human trafficking victim from Las Vegas.

“He chased her across the main lanes where she was struck,” said Sean Teare, chief of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office Felony Trial Bureau.

The crime scene is located in the Afton Oaks neighborhood where the pimp had gotten an Airbnb for his victims after flying them into Houston in early May.

“When Las Vegas closed from COVID, they didn’t have any traffic, so he brought a number of women over to Houston so that he could have them work here, so there’s a human trafficking element to this,” said Teare.

Prosecutors say at first Baxton was believed to have been hit and killed after getting out of a Lyft ride, and Finks claimed he was her boyfriend. Surveillance video later unraveled Finks’ story and landed him behind bars.

“It shows that this defendant was with her in the parking lot directly next to 610, they got into a pretty obvious argument, he became very animated, and this victim then, in an attempt to get away from him, ran across 610,” said Teare. “He then pursued her.”

Much of the fight and chase between Finks and the woman played out in the parking lot of Auto World West Loop, said Teare.

“We’re in River Oaks,” said Tom Langas who works at Auto World West Loop. “That’s the nicest part of town, but we’re sitting right on the access road of 610, so we get a lot of strange things that go on.”

Prosecutors say the woman who was killed is from the Las Vegas area, and her mom has flown into town after hearing of her daughter’s death. Prosecutors say she was ticketed for prostitution already three times since coming to Houston in early May.