The death of an 9-year-old boy whose skeletal remains were found alongside his three abandoned siblings in a Houston apartment was reportedly ruled a homicide on Tuesday as his mother’s boyfriend was charged with murder.
The developments in the disturbing case came two days after police uncovered the horrible living situation that was reported to them by the dead boy’s 15-year-old brother.
The older brother reportedly told police that he and two other siblings, ages 10 and 7, lived with the remains for a year.
Tuesday’s charges, announced by Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, came shortly after the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office made the homicide ruling and said the boy suffered multiple blunt force injuries, Click2Houston reported.
The children’s 35-year-old mother, Gloria Williams, was charged with injury to a child by omission and tampering with evidence. Her 31-year-old boyfriend, Brian Coulter, was charged with murder.
Gonzalez said the 9-year-old was killed in 2020.
The three surviving boys attended Alief ISD, but had not been to school since May 2020, KHOU reported.
Two truancy cases were brought against the mother, one in 2019 and the other in 2020. But the Harris County District Attorney’s Office did not enforce such violations during the pandemic, the outlet reported.
Neighbor Erica Chapman, who sometimes supplied food and drinks to the oldest child, told news station KHOU she was “disgusted” by the news.
The children’s mother and her boyfriend were questioned and then released. https://www.click2houston.com/neChapman said she sensed something was amiss, but never imagined the reality of the children’s living situation.
“If I knew something was wrong with any of those kids, I would have took all of them,” the neighbor said.
The three siblings have been placed in the custody of Child Protective Services.
Gonzalez said additional charges are expected to be filed in the case.
