HOUSTON – A Houston family waited nearly three years for justice, and on Thursday, they finally got it. A jury sentenced 51-year-old Yoland Washington to 75 years in prison for the murder of 21-year-old Deundrea Ford, a young mother who disappeared after leaving work along the East Freeway in September 2023.
KPRC 2 News reporter Corley Peel spoke with Ford’s family after the verdict. Ford’s uncle, Kevin Carriere, said the family had hoped for a life sentence, but 75 years still delivers the justice Deundrea deserves.
“75 years is more time than I believe he has left to live. So, in our eyes, this is the death sentence to him,” Carriere said.
Ford was just 21 years old when she vanished after leaving her job at Diva’s Bikini Sports Bar and Grill. Surveillance video captured her getting into a white Ford Transit van driven by Washington. When family and friends could not reach her, she was reported missing, and the search for her lasted months.
Investigators eventually linked Washington to her disappearance and charged him with murder in January 2024.
In March, Houston Police say a line worker discovered skeletal remains along Luna Road in Dallas. Months later, those remains were identified as Deundrea’s.
For Carriere, the sentence brings closure, but it cannot replace what the family lost.
“I miss her joy. I miss her smile. I miss her laugh. I miss the jokes. I just miss the moments that we had together,” he said.
“She would always ask me to do something crazy for her. I learned how to do hair because of my niece,” Carriere added. “It’s small stuff like that I’ll never get back.”
Now that Washington is headed to prison, Ford’s family says they can finally begin to grieve.
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