A Texas mother who moved with her partner, leaving her three children in a room with the decomposing body of their sibling, has pleaded guilty.
Gloria Williams, 38, pleaded guilty last week to two charges of injury to a child in connection with the death of her son, Kendrick Lee, 8, according to Click 2 Houston.
As previously reported by CrimeOnline, Kendrick’s siblings, ages 15, 10, and 7, lived alone for nearly a year at the CityParc II at West Oaks Apartments in Houston. Investigators were alerted on October 24, 2021, when the 15-year-old, Jordan, called 911 and said their mother had left him and his younger siblings alone for months.
Jordan told authorities that his younger brother was dead in a room at the apartment.
The teen told investigators that Kendrick had died in a bedroom and that he heard Coulter, Williams’ partner, assaulting Williams.
Coulter and Williams lived in a separate apartment about 25 minutes away. According to the children, Williams and Coulter would return every few weeks to drop off food, but Coulter would also physically assault them during those visits.
Police reported that the children’s apartment had no furniture, was infested with roaches, and had soiled carpeting.
Two of the children, Trevon, 10, and Ja’Veon, 7, told investigators that they witnessed Coulter kick and punch Kendrick in the back, face, legs, arms, and testicles until he died. Coulter then covered Kendrick’s body with a blue blanket and left him in the bedroom, police said.
By the time police found Kendrick, his body had decomposed to the point of being skeletonized, and bugs were crawling over his remains.
Williams said she tried to intervene during the assault but did not call the police because Coulter told her not to, and she feared going to jail and losing custody of her children.
Shortly after the assault, the couple moved out of the apartment.
The Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Kendrick’s death as a result of “homicidal violence” and found multiple blunt-force trauma injuries. A criminal complaint stated that on November 20, 2020, Coulter killed Kendrick by punching and kicking him to death.
Williams allegedly helped conceal the boy’s death, according to the criminal complaint. She is also accused of starving one of her children.
Williams is scheduled to be sentenced on November 11.
[Feature Photo: A younger Kendrick with Gloria Williams/Facebook]
