Dead 9-year-old boy found abandoned with siblings in Texas apartment was murdered

The mother and her boyfriend were charged with the death of the nine-year-old boy on Tuesday, following the discovery of his skeletal remains last Sunday in an apartment near Houston, Texas.

Authorities found the child's corpse along with three abandoned children in an apartment complex at 3535 Green Crest. The children, brothers aged 15, 10 and 7, have been living with their sibling's dead body for a year in an adjacent room. The teen had called 911 and told them of their situation after he texted his mother that he could no longer take it.

The mother of the children, Gloria Williams, 35, and her boyfriend Brian Coulter, 31, were first taken in for questioning shortly after the discovery. They were released on Monday as authorities waited for the autopsy report on the dead child.

According to NBC News, they were ultimately arrested on Tuesday after the coroner's office, the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, revealed that the boy had died of homicidal violence. The evaluation also revealed that he had multiple blunt-force injuries when he died at the age of 8.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the boyfriend faces a murder charge while the mother faces charges of injury to a child by omission and tampering with evidence. The sheriff said the accused are now in custody and that more charges are expected to be filed.

Prior to the dead child's discovery, neighbours had complained of a foul stench coming from the third-floor apartment. A next-door neighbour said she complained to management for months about the terrible smell coming from the children's apartment. It was reportedly so strong that she had to turn off her air conditioner to avoid it wafting inside her place.

None of the neighbours knew that the teen was living with his brothers and the skeletal remains of their dead sibling. They only saw the eldest because they have been giving him food for months like pizza, fruits, and other packed goods. He would not accept cooked meals for fear of being poisoned.

The children's mother lived just 15 minutes away with her boyfriend. A neighbour said they would drive by the apartment to give noodles and chips to the teen, but they never saw them enter the apartment, which they noted had been without electricity for months. The brothers are now in the temporary care of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.