Texas children abandoned with dead sibling relied on neighbours to survive

It has been revealed that the three brothers who were found abandoned in an apartment complex at 3535 Green Crest, Houston last Sunday, lived on food given to them by neighbours.

The siblings, aged 15, 10, and 7, have been living with the skeletal remains of their dead nine-year-old brother for a year. The eldest had called 911 and reported their situation, which then prompted the discovery. But before he called the authorities, he had reportedly texted his mother that he could not take it anymore.

Now neighbours are speaking up amid an ongoing investigation. Trevor Thompson said he developed a bond with the teen because he came knocking on his door one day asking if he could charge his phone. He also noted that the boy seemed paranoid about getting poisoned which is why he only accepted certain food.

"A few times I noticed the lights weren't on, and it was quiet upstairs, so I figured there was trouble because the parents haven't been there in a while...I started offering him food because I knew he needed more than just a charger," he told Houston's KTRK-TV.

Thompson said he was unaware that there were other kids living in the apartment. But it made him wonder about it when he asked the teen about the pizza he gave him once.

"I asked, 'Did you like the pizza?' And he asked, 'What? The first pizza we had?'" Thompson said. "That made me wonder why would he say, 'We.'"

Another neighbour, Erica Chapman, said she started giving the teen food six months ago. She also noticed that his mum would just "come and park and he would run down and grab noodles, drinks, and chips and run back up." She said the eldest would not accept cooked meals and prefers packed snacks, fruits, and pizza. Chapman thinks the teen did not tell anyone about his brothers out of fear.

"After finding out what happened [Sunday], I think he was more nervous and scared. 'Are they going to blame me for this? Are my parents going to punish me for this?' Maybe his parents told him they would be separated if he told anyone," she said and noted that the boy mostly kept to himself so the neighbours did not know the magnitude of what was going on inside their apartment.

"I didn't want to push him away by asking questions because I knew he was starving and needed food," she added.

It turned out that the brothers' mother and her boyfriend live in an apartment just 15 minutes away in Westchase. They were questioned at the Harris County Sheriff's Office on Sunday but released on Monday. The siblings were also taken to the hospital where they were found to be malnourished and that the seven-year-old had facial fractures. It was also learned that two of the brothers were last enrolled in school in May 2020. The sheriff's office said they are waiting for the autopsy results of their dead sibling before they can file charges. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is now seeking emergency custody of the children.