Horrific Details Emerge in Case of Abandoned Siblings

Texas siblings say they saw Brian Coulter beat their brother to death
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 28, 2021 6:37 AM CDT
Horrific Details Emerge in Case of Abandoned Siblings
Gloria Williams.   (Harris County Sheriff's Office)

Horrific details emerged Wednesday in the case of three Houston-area siblings believed to have lived an an apartment with their brother's remains for almost a year. Police say mother Gloria Williams, 35, and her 31-year-old boyfriend Brian Coulter apparently moved out of the apartment weeks after Coulter allegedly beat 8-year-old Kendrick Lee to death last year, leaving the siblings, ages 15, 10, and 7, behind, KHOU 11 reports. Williams and Coulter were arrested Tuesday and Coulter was charged with murder. Police say the couple, who lived around 25 minutes away, would occasionally visit the apartment. Coulter is believed to have severely injured the 10-year-old's jaw in a beating around three weeks ago.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told reporters Wednesday that the apartment was in "horrible" shape. "No bedding, no blankets that we could see. We saw roaches and flies and very bad condition for anyone to live in," he said. The teen called 911 Sunday and homicide unit supervisor Sgt. Dennis Wolfford said he believes "absolute fear" stopped him from calling sooner. "I believe that the beatings were consistent, mainly directed at the younger children, and the 15-year-old was absolutely afraid, basically, hoping and relying on his mother to at some point to contact law enforcement ... and that didn't happen," he said, per KHOU. Coulter is not believed to be the father of any of the siblings.

Wolfford described the boys as "special needs children" and said at least two of them are believed to be autistic, KTRK reports. The siblings are now in the care of Child Protective Services. According to court documents, Williams said Wednesday that she didn't call police after Coulter killed her son in November last year because she was afraid the other children would be taken away and she would be jailed. The hearing was told that the two younger children described their abuse to deputies and said they had seen Coulter kicking and punching their brother until he stopped moving. Police say his skeletal remains were found under a blanket.

story continues below

Police say the children were malnourished and while there appear to have been occasional food deliveries, it was snack food instead of anything substantial. Coulter is being evaluated at a mental health facility, with bond set at $1 million. The Daily Beast reports that his Instagram page has videos of him eating well—and talking about how much he loves his family. Williams has been charged with injury to a child by omission and tampering with evidence. "I would say they are both an abuser," Wilford said Wednesday. "He's an abuser physically, and she's an abuser by omission." (More Texas stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X