Sickening video shows cops rescue starved, beaten kids locked in cages from Las Vegas horror house
July 25, 2023 4:09pm
Sickening video shows Las Vegas cops rescuing young children who were allegedly battered, starved and put in cages by their parents.
One of the older children was beaten so badly that his father, Travis Doss, told Las Vegas Metropolitan Police he believed the 11-year-old was already dead, according to court transcripts obtained by TV station 8NewsNow.
The child said he was forced to share what little food he had with his siblings and that he had not eaten for days, a detective on the case recalled.
“He kept saying that he was always hungry and that’s why he stole, and then he said, ‘It’s food that’s in the trash, so how is that even stealing?’ ” the detective said, according to a grand jury transcript.
The detective told the jury that the child said he was locked in the cage “all day, every day.”
Doss, who is the father to seven children, was indicted by a grand jury earlier this month on 40 charges including child abuse, according to court records viewed by The Post.
The disturbing cop bodycam footage initially shows officers entering the tiny, one-bedroom apartment where they found six kids — ages 2 to 11 — alone with two dogs. Two of the children, the 11-year-old boy and his 9-year-old brother, were crouched inside a padlocked cage normally used for pets.
Cops said the 11-year-old boy had “two black eyes that were swollen shut, multiple marks and bruises all over his body, and he was emaciated.”
The child told police his father had beaten him with cords, belts and a pan.
Amanda Stamper, who is the biological mother of the 2-year-old child and stepmother to the others, also was indicted and faces seven counts of child abuse.
LVMPD bodycam footage showed the children initially refused to open the door to cops for 15 minutes because the kids were instructed not to open the door for strangers.
“We’re not hurt, we’re fine,” said one of the children in the video.
After a maintenance worker eventually convinced the child to open the door, cops found the children in the apartment with dogs.
In the video, the 11-year-old child said of his dad, “He hit my face in the cage because I was squished up trying to get out of the cage because I didn’t do anything and I was freaking out.”
One of the officers could be heard consoling a child, telling him, “You’re not a bad kid, this is just really a crappy situation. And we’re going to get you some help. This is not going to happen again.”
Doss allegedly told police he had “no choice” when asked why he placed the children in the cage.
In his Instagram, Doss, who is a rapper who goes by the name “Trap Montana,” is seen rapping inside exotic cars, mansions and casinos on the famed Las Vegas Strip.
In posts from September 2020, he is seen with his children enjoying a beach day in Santa Monica, Calif. Another post from June 2019 shows Doss fishing with four of the children and Stamper smiling in the background.
Clark County prosecutors said Stamper was a prostitute working under Doss, adding that she knew her partner was abusing the children.
Stamper’s public defender said the mother also was a victim of Doss’ abuse. Stamper’s Instagram shows several provocative pictures of her in the nude and shots of her newborn baby from two years ago.
“If she had done anything, she would’ve been subjected to serious, serious abuse,” Stamper’s public defender said in June.
Video shows Las Vegas police rescuing children locked in cage, several others allegedly abused
by: David Charns
Posted: Jul 24, 2023 / 06:06 PM PDT
Updated: Jul 26, 2023 / 12:16 PM PDT
Couple thought child locked in cage was dead, 5 others severely beaten: police
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Disturbing body camera video the 8 News Now Investigators obtained shows Las Vegas Metro police rescuing six children, including two locked in a cage.
In court documents, police and doctors describe the alleged abuse of the children, one whom they described as on the brink of death, as the worst case they have ever seen.
Travis Doss, 31, and Amanda Stamper, 33, shared a one-bedroom, one-bathroom extended-stay apartment with seven children near Flamingo Road and Valley View Boulevard, documents said. Police arrested the couple, who cared for all the children between the ages of 2 and 11, on Sunday, June 11, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported.
That morning, police were called to a convenience store for a woman, later identified as Stamper, who was hiding from her husband, later identified as Doss, because “he threatened to kill her,” documents said. Stamper then alerted police about what they would find in the apartment, police said.
Responding officers found two children – ages 9 and 11 — padlocked in a dog cage, they said. One of the children kept in the cage had “two black eyes that were swollen shut, multiple marks and bruises all over his body, and he was emaciated,” police said.
A Clark County grand jury indicted Doss earlier this month on 40 charges, including several counts of child abuse, records showed. The panel indicted Stamper on seven child abuse charges.
Doss is the father of all seven children, prosecutors said. Stamper is the stepmother to six children and has one biological child, a 2-year-old, with Doss, prosecutors said. Stamper is expecting another child, prosecutors said.
Body camera video the 8 News Now Investigators obtained shows the perspective of one officer as she and her partner first attempt to enter the apartment and then rescue the children.
“Hey, it’s Metro police. We just want to make sure everything’s OK,” the officer says in the video.
Stamper had told investigators Doss was “violent towards all the children” except the 2-year-old, police said. Stamper said he hit the children with “belts, extension cords, skillets, his hands and feet,” documents said. “Amanda said all the children are covered with marks from their neck down.”
The day before, Doss reportedly told Stamper he believed the child in the cage was deceased, documents said, because he had “kicked him in the head too hard.” Stamper reportedly told police she believed the child “looked dead for the last five days.”
“We already talked to your parents, OK?” the officer says in the body camera video as a child on the other side of the door refuses to open it. “We need to open the door so we can talk to you.”
The back-and-forth between the children and the officers lasts for about 15 minutes.
“We want to make sure you guys aren’t hurt,” the officer says.
