Mother in Texas wails 'with fake tears' when toddler's body is found after she 'beat her to death with hairbrush'

A mother of a two-year-old whose body was discovered in a bayou Texas has been charged with the little girl's death.

Two months ago Sahara Ervin, 20, was filmed by a local TV station sobbing and wailing next to her daughter's body.

Houston police arrested Ervin and her boyfriend Travion Thompson, 21, on Tuesday for their roles in the death of Maliyah Bass.

Sahara Ervin, 20, and her boyfriend, 21-year-old Travion Thompson. Photo / Houston Police

Both were charged with injury to a child and tampering with evidence, KTRK reported.

Maliyah was found dead in Brays Bayou on August 23, and Ervin and Thompson were both filmed by local news at the scene, overcome with emotion.

In the footage, Ervin can be seen laying on the ground as she wails over her daughter's death.

Thompson meanwhile told reporters he "felt like a father" to the girl, and claimed she had been upset because he had broken her toy box, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Maliyah Bass' body was found in a bayou. Photo / Supplied

Thompson tried to blame a "human trafficking operation" at their apartment complex.

Police allege that at the time of the TV interview both of them knew the girl was dead.

An Amber Alert had been issued for Maliyah after Ervin said that she had left the toddler alone on the playground outside the couple's apartment for a few minutes while she cooked breakfast on August 22.

A US$150,000 bond has been set for Thompson while Ervin has been given a bonds total of US$175,000, the Daily Mail reported.

Maliyah was found dead in Brays Bayou on August 23. Photo / KPRC2

"Everyone looking stupid and looking for the baby when they knew what happened to the baby," said an upset neighbour of the couple.

MALIYAH BASS’ MOTHER AND BOYFRIEND’S REACTION: This is a video I took when Sahara Ervin and Travion Thompson showed up to Brays Bayou on August 23 when the 2-year-old’s body was being recovered. That’s Ervin on the ground. It was a chaotic scene. https://t.co/sEKmiURmyk pic.twitter.com/ClRuhXHN5p

— Mycah Hatfield (@MycahABC13) October 6, 2020

Court records reveal that Thompson claimed Ervin beat the toddler with a hair brush when she would not stop crying, ABC13 reported.

The girl was left in a closet and discovered dead on August 21, according to the documents.

Sahara Ervin, 20, is shown sobbing after it was confirmed her daughter's body had been found. Photo / ABC13

An autopsy showed Maliyah's left forearm was broken, as well as having extensive superficial blunt force trauma.

The medical examiner believed that Maliyah was beaten with an extension cord-like object or a hanger-like object.

Thompson told police that they disposed of the girl's body in a storm drain on August 22.