Gloria Williams, was arrested after her three sons were found abandoned in an Houston-area apartment, and her boyfriend, Brian Coulter, has been charged with the murder of her fourth son.
The medical examiners office said on Tuesday that they found the skeletal remains of the 8-year-old child in the apartment with his three brothers.
The death was ruled a homicide with blunt force injuries.
According to Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, Brian Coulter is accused of killing the child in 2020.
Coulter’s bond was set at $1 million on Wednesday, and he is currently being held at a mental health facility.
Williams has also been charged with injury to a child by omission and tampering with evidence (human corpse).
She is due in court Wednesday morning, and her bond was set at $900k.
The three brothers ages 15, 10, and 7, attended Alief ISD schools, but the district said they haven’t seen them since May 2020.
The school district says they made attempts to contact the mother and visited the apartment in September 2020, but they were not successful.
According to the school district, the mother had two truancy cases for two boys, one was for 2019 and the other for 2020.
But, truancy cases weren’t enforced by the Harris County DA’s office due to the pandemic.
The 15-year-old son made the call to the police Sunday night, and he told them that he and his brothers had been living in the apartment by themselves for months with skeletal remains in another room.
When deputies arrived, they found the remains of the eight-year-old, and they noticed the two younger boys appeared malnourished with signs of physical injury.
Neighbors said they thought the 15-year-old lived in the apartment alone.
Neighbor Erica Chapman was upset that inspectors didn’t find the boys sooner.
There is no excuse for this. None at all. When inspections came … that was the only apartment you didn’t inspect? What did they know? They never went into that apartment?
Chapman said she helped the 15-year-old in the past.
He was sleeping on the slide and I asked him if he was hungry. I brought him some food and drinks. I woke him up. He was going to eat then go back home.
Chapman said she would drop food off at the apartment sometimes, but she didn’t know what was going on inside.
Another neighbor said the 15-year-old would charge his phone at her apartment.
According to CPS (Children’s Protective Services), the three boys are currently in foster care.
Below is the statement CPS released to KHOU 11 News:
To ensure the safety of the children, the Department of Family and Protective Services is seeking emergency custody of the three boys.
Child Protective Services does have history with the family, but there was no active CPS investigation at the time the children were discovered alone in their apartment.
Watch the KHOU 11 News report below:
This story is truly heartbreaking, and Gloria Williams and Brian Coulter need to prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Your thoughts?
Source: KHOU 11
