The children were abandoned with the remains of their brother
A Houston couple were arrested and charged by police on Tuesday (October 26) for neglecting their three young children, all while the remains of their eight-year-old decomposed in the house for more than a year.
Gloria Y. Williams, 35, has been charged with injury to a child in omission, failure to provide medical care and failure to provide adequate supervision, says Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
Her partner, 31-year-old Brian W. Coulter, has been charged with murder in connection to the eight-year-old’s death, reports news outlet ABC 13.
A neighbour, who provided food for the kids and charged their phones when electricity was cut, called 911, which prompted the welfare check on Sunday October 24.
Investigators made the horrific discovery during the welfare check. Both Coulter and Williams were then questioned and released just hours later.
Court documents obtained by the Mail Online show that Williams was charged twice for failing to enrol her kids in school. The school district had filed truancy papers in both 2019 and 2020 but the charges were later dismissed due to the pandemic.
Police officials have ruled the youngest child’s death a homicide, with the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office confirming on Tuesday (October 26) that the child suffered multiple blunt force injuries.
According to the 15-year-old, who had also been caring for his other siblings, the family had been living with the decomposing child’s body for a year.
Shortly before the teen called 911 on Sunday, he allegedly text his mother to tell her he couldn’t do it anymore. The eldest sibling confirmed that the kids, aged 15, 10 and seven, had been alone in the apartment for months. They relied on food donations to survive, despite their mother and her boyfriend living 15 minutes away.
Erica Chapman was one unsuspecting neighbour on-hand to assist but she was unaware of the 15-year-old’s two younger brothers.
“The first time I saw him, he was sleeping on one of the slides,” she told KTRK.
“I didn’t want to push him away by asking questions because I knew he was starving and needed food,” she continued, saying she didn’t grasp the severity of the situation.
The trio of kids were taken to the hospital for medical treatment, with the youngest having numerous broken bones in his face.
“The older sibling was doing the best he could to take care of the others,” said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
“We are trying to identify next of kin to determine exactly what happened and how we got to this point… We’re going to make sure we conduct a thorough follow-up investigation,” he added.
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