In a disturbing revelation of child neglect and abuse, Gloria Williams, the mother of four boys, is facing new charges for failing to provide food or medical aid to her 8-year-old son, Kendrick Lee, before he was beaten to death, this latest indictment follows a haunting trial that saw her boyfriend, Brian Coulter, sentenced to life imprisonment, as reported by the Houston Chronicle. The Harris County apartment where the crime took place held three surviving brothers along with the skeletal remains of their deceased sibling for an agonizing year.
The grim discovery was made after a 15-year-old made a frantic call to 911, stating that their mother left them by themselves for months sharing their abode with the corpse of their younger brother, according to ABC13; Deputy Corey Castro, from the Harris County Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit described a scene with no furniture, no lights, rampant roaches, and the boys having barely anything to cover up with. Kendrick was allegedly killed by Coulter in November 2020, the tragic detail and the extent of systemic failure were highlighted as these children, abandoned and unattended, suffered through torment with two suffering from autism but being entirely aware and verbal about their ordeal.
Williams is now indicted with two counts of child injury, one for her tragic failure to act as Mother faced by her partner’s abuse on her child, said Celeste Byrom, a prosecutor in the case, the second re-indicting her on allegations of abuse involving another child, with the 2021 similar charge expected to be dismissed. The surviving children, aged 10, 12, and 17, provided a testament of the abuse during Coulter’s trial, with the youngest child recounting sights of his brother's remains covered by a blue blanket while being locked in the room with them to stay out of the kitchen, as "Williams’ defense attorney, Neal Davis III", said he had not yet received transcripts to review the trial's testimony for his client's defense.
Investigators, shocked by the living conditions the boys endured, are determined to seek justice for the children; Deputy John Craig of the Harris County Sheriff's Office stated, “It's heart-wrenching. You hug them back,” as he recounted his interaction with the frightened boys, their happiness overshadowed by the lingering fear in their eyes, he told ABC13. The pandemic played a role in the lack of oversight from educational institutions, the boys not having been physically present at school where signs of abuse might have been spotted, Alief ISD had filed truancy papers, but a home visit in September 2020 was met with no response, highlighting a deeper systemic issue with following up on homeschool declarations, a daunting task for an overburdened system.
The prosecution has offered Williams a 60-year prison sentence, while her attorney stressed a desire to avoid another traumatizing trial for the children who have since been adopted after Williams relinquished her parental rights, as noted by the Houston Chronicle.
