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6-Year-Old’s Road To Recovery After Abuse & Traumatic Brain Injuries | TSR Investigates Updatez

In June 2022, ‘TSR Investigates‘ explored the story of 4-year-old Alani Watts. At the time, the child suffered traumatic brain injuries after being abused by her father, an aspiring rapper named Tekquan Alexander.

Now, The Shade Room’s Justin Carteris following up on the now 6-year-old’s road to recovery as her father heads to trial.

WARNING: Some viewers may find the following footage disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.

Here’s What Happened To Alani Watts

In 2022, Carter spoke exclusively with Watt’s mother, Keyonna Watts. At the time, the mother shared her one and only regret. It was sending her daughter from Atlanta, Georgia, to California to visit her father in November 2021.

“A detective called me and informed me that my daughter was bleeding from the brain and has had emergency surgery,” Watts told Carter. “He [Tekquan Alexander] told me that Alani passed out [while] standing in timeout.”

However, when the mother questioned Alexander further, she said he didn’t give her straight answers.

“And when I asked him, ‘Was she okay?’ [and] ‘How did she pass out?’ he really wasn’t answering me. Like, he was just shaking his head, covering his mouth,” she explained.

Alani ultimately ended up in the hospital with multiple tubes and braces hooked onto her body. Additionally, a 60-page police report revealed that Alexander informed police that Alani was a “bed-wetter.”

The father explained to authorities that he punished her with “rigorous exercises with an element of physical abuse.” This reportedly included hitting her with boxing gloves, hitting her with a belt, and hitting her with wires.

On November 29, 2021, when a bed-wetting incident occurred, Alexander punished the child with the same measures, hitting her with a belt and wires seven to eight times.

However, according to Alexander, Alani began to experience “seizure-like symptoms.”

Here’s What’s Happening To The Child’s Father & How She’s Doing Today

According to Carter, Alani Watts was found to have puncture wounds and deep bruises all over her body. Additionally, an ER report revealed that the child experienced “extensive bleeding” on the right side of her brain.

Ultimately, the right side of Alani’s skull was removed to alleviate the bleeding.

Scroll above to watch as Carter speaks with Alani’s mother, who shares an update on how the child is doing today. She also speaks on the uphill battle she’s facing to continue providing adequate care for the six-year-old while Carter shares an update on Tekquan Alexander’s trial.

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Jadriena Solomon

Jadriena “Jade” Solomon is a journalist and editor, specializing in beauty, fashion, entertainment, and culture. A graduate of CUNY Brooklyn College’s Journalism and Media Studies program, she began her career in 2015, publishing independent op-ed articles, and has since built a strong digital media portfolio across reporting, editing, and hosting for major media companies. As The Shade Room’s Senior Editor, Jadriena helps lead editorial direction, manages writers and editors, and has contributed more than 2,600 stories with over 45M page views since her start in 2022. Her past roles include contributing and staff positions at HelloBeautiful, Blavity News, 21Ninety, and Bronze Magazine. She has interviewed talents such as Tamron Hall, Eboni K. Williams, Tia Mowry, LeToya Luckett, Salt-N-Pepa, and more.

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