Man accused of beating children, keeping them in dog kennel
A couple facing multiple child abuse charges after police found two bruised children locked in a dog kennel at a Las Vegas apartment were arraigned Wednesday in Justice Court.
Travis Doss, 31, and Amanda Stamper, 33, made appearances and a judge scheduled their preliminary hearings for June 29, with Doss held on $250,000 bail and Stamper on $125,000 bail at the Clark County Detention Center, based on court and jail records.
Doss faces a charge of attempted murder, eight counts of child abuse or neglect with substantial bodily harm and six counts of child abuse or neglect, all felonies, according to court records.
Stamper is accused of seven counts of child abuse or neglect with substantial bodily harm.
One of the children kept in the kennel had eyes that were black and swollen shut, bruises on his body, was extremely malnourished, anemic, needed a blood transfusion and both of his kidneys were enlarged due to backed-up urine, according to Metropolitan Police Department arrest reports.
A doctor told police the boy would have died had he not been taken to University Medical Center, while a nurse informed police that “this is the worst case of abuse she has seen in 13 years.”
Las Vegas police discovered the children Sunday after responding to a call from a woman who was hiding from her husband inside a drugstore not far from the apartment complex, located near Valley View Boulevard and Flamingo Road, according to arrest reports for Doss and Stamper. They were arrested Sunday.
In addition to the two boys found in the kennel, there were four other children.
Stamper told police that Doss had been violent with the five older children, aged 6 to 12, sparing only the sixth one who was born in 2021. She also claims Doss hit the five older children with belts, extension cords, skillets and his hands and feet.
The couple, Stamper related to police, owned a black skillet with a wooden handle that Doss allegedly used so often that it “has dents in it from the children’s heads,” according to police.
The couple told police that Doss had locked the two boys in the kennel for stealing food, the arrest reports say.
Stamper told police that Doss is violent with all of their children, except for the youngest, a baby born in 2021.
Stamper also told police that Doss was her husband and her pimp. She accused Doss of punching, kicking, strangling, body-slamming and throwing things at her when he’d get violent over the last three years, according to Stamper’s and Doss’ arrest reports.
Doss also told police he wanted them to take one of the children in the kennel away, saying he’s “washed (his) hands with him,” his arrest report said.
Stamper told police that Doss sent her a photo of one of the children unconscious, saying that he’d kicked the boy in the head too hard and he was dead. Doss admitted to police that he had sent Stamper that message, according to the arrest report.
Contact Mark Credico at mcredico@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarkCredicoII. Contact Jeff Burbank at jburbank@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0382. Follow him @JeffBurbank2 on Twitter.
