A judge on Tuesday sentenced a Houston mom to 50 years imprisonment after she forced her children to live with the decomposing body of their dead brother.
Gloria Williams, 38, pleaded guilty in October to two counts of injury to a child for abuse. The case involved Kendrick Lee, 8, who was beaten to death by Williams' boyfriend, Brian Coulter. She will be eligible for parole in 25 years.
For his role in the murder, Coulter was sentenced to life in prison, per Fox 26 Houston.
Siblings Discovered Living with Brother's Remains
Officers discovered Lee's body in October 2021 after Williams' eldest child, who was 15, called 911 to report his brother's death. By then, the 15-year-old and his two siblings---aged 7 and 10---had been living in the roach-infested house with the body for a year.
Authorities who responded found Lee's body covered in a blue blanket. All that remained of Lee was his bones. Testimony from Lee's brothers said the 8-year-old was beaten to death after the child drank what Coulter saw was more than his share of water.
Police noted that the siblings were malnourished and hungry when they were found inside the unfurnished, bug-infested house.
Houston Mom Leaves Her 3 Young Children Alone for Months
Williams and Coulter lived with the siblings and Lee's body for months after the fatal beating. However, the couple moved out in March 2022 and lived at another apartment located nearly half an hour away. The three surviving siblings were left alone in the apartment with their brother's body, AP News reported.
Williams would provide the children with food---which authorities noted was mostly junk food. Some neighbors would also feed them.
The children also said they were not allowed to leave the apartment and that they lived in constant fear that Coulter would beat them. Police said the 10-year-old child had been punched in the jaw weeks prior to the 911 call. He was not given medical care after.
The three siblings are now under the temporary custody of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Two of the children are believed to be on the autism spectrum.
