Child whose skeletal remains were found in Houston apartment killed by ‘homicidal violence’ medical examiner says
Sheriff’s deputies made the horrifying discovery on Sunday once they discovered three youngsters — 15, 9 and seven years outdated — and the physique of the kid. The very first thing they wished to eat was doughnuts, officers mentioned.
Gonzalez on Wednesday referred to as it a “ugly baby abandonment case” and it “appeared too horrific to be actual.”
The 8-year-old baby is believed to have died round Thanksgiving, Sgt. Dennis Wolford, the lead investigator with the sheriff’s murder unit, mentioned at a information convention.
The mom, Gloria Y. Williams, 35, was charged with harm to a baby by omission and tampering with proof involving a human corpse, Gonzalez mentioned.
Bond for Coulter has been set at $1 million and for Williams at $350,000 and each stay in custody, in response to on-line courtroom paperwork.
Efforts by CNN to seek out out whether or not both has an legal professional have been unsuccessful Wednesday.
In a information launch, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned the 15-year-old referred to as authorities and mentioned his brother had been lifeless for a 12 months and that his physique was within the room subsequent to his. The teenager mentioned his mother and father had not lived within the house for a number of months.
“Evidently they have been in there whereas the physique was deteriorating,” Gonzalez mentioned, referring to the opposite youngsters.
The skeletal stays “have been in plain view” and “weren’t hid in any manner,” the sheriff mentioned Wednesday.
One in all them, Erica Chapman, informed KTRK that she began giving him meals six months in the past after noticing that the mom was not often there.
“She would come and park, and he would run down and seize noodles, drinks and chips and run again up,” Chapman mentioned.
The mom was dropping off meals or having it delivered on a routine foundation, Gonzalez mentioned.
One other mentioned the 15-year-old had knocked on his door and requested to make use of a charger, “and we constructed a bond from there,” Trevor Thompson informed KTRK.
“I began providing him meals as a result of I knew he wanted greater than only a charger,” Thompson mentioned.
“A couple of instances I observed the lights weren’t on, and it was quiet upstairs, so I figured there was bother as a result of the mother and father have not been there shortly,” Thompson mentioned.
Each neighbors mentioned they did not know there have been different youngsters and did not name authorities “as a result of they did not perceive the magnitude of the state of affairs,” in response to KTRK.
The youngsters have been very skinny and mentioned they have been hungry, and the very first thing they wished to eat was doughnuts, Wolford mentioned.
The house was in “deplorable situation,” Gonzalez mentioned. There was no furnishings, no bedding or blankets, the carpet was soiled, he mentioned, and there have been roaches and flies within the house.
Requested why the youngsters did not name the police earlier, Wolford mentioned they have been in “absolute worry.” The 9-year-old had an harm to his jaw that’s believed to have been brought about a number of weeks in the past by Coulter, Wolford mentioned.
The boy will want surgical procedure, and that may occur quickly, he mentioned.
The mom and her boyfriend have been dwelling in a separate house, Gonzalez mentioned, however the situation of that house just isn’t but recognized.
Gonzalez mentioned it regarded just like the 15-year-old had been taking good care of his youthful siblings one of the best he might.
“It seems that they have been principally fending for one another,” Gonzalez mentioned.
The 2 youthful youngsters appeared malnourished and confirmed indicators of bodily harm, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned. All three have been transported to a hospital for remedy.
They’re now within the emergency custody of The Texas Division of Household and Protecting Providers, in response to a press release despatched to CNN by DFPS.
In Might 2020, three of the youngsters stopped attending college within the Alief Impartial Faculty District, in response to Kimberly N. Smith, director of public relations and communications at AISD. Smith didn’t specify which three youngsters she was referring to.
In 2019, college district officers started a truancy investigation into the mom for one of many youngsters’s lack of attendance, however the case was dismissed on the finish of the 2019-2020 college 12 months by the District Lawyer’s Workplace, Smith mentioned.
“The youngsters didn’t attend college throughout the 2020-2021 nor 2021-2022 college years. In September 2020, college personnel tried a house go to in an effort to return the youngsters to high school which went unanswered,” Smith added.
The Harris County District Lawyer’s Workplace mentioned it plans “to resolve what these youngsters have endured.”
“Our specialised prosecutors proceed to work with the sheriff’s deputies, as this horror is totally investigated,” spokesperson Dane Schiller mentioned in an e mail to CNN.
Correction: A earlier model of this text had the wrong age for one of many youngsters. Regulation enforcement Wednesday corrected the age they supplied for the center baby to 9.
CNN’s Carma Hassan, Amy Simonson and Susannah Cullinane contributed to this report.
