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Mom Allegedly Allowed Boyfriend Beat Son To Death And Failed To Report It
Law enforcement described Gloria Williams, the mother of three abandoned children found living with the remains of their brother, as an "abuser by omission."
A Texas mother who was arrested this week along with her boyfriend after three children were found living with their dead brother’s remains, was allegedly complicit in the beatings of the children.
Gloria Y. Williams, 35, and her boyfriend, 31-year-old Brian W. Coulter were arrested on Tuesday, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez in a press release. Coulter has been charged with murder after the skeletonized remains of an 8-year-old boy were found inside an apartment in Houston over the weekend. Three boys – ages 15, 10 and 7 – were also found in the home, some apparently malnourished.
Williams has been charged with injury to a child by omission and tampering with evidence.
At a Wednesday press conference, investigators offered more insight into the child's death. They noted that he died of multiple blunt force trauma and that he was likely killed around last Thanksgiving. The children had allegedly been living alone in the home for months with the remains while Williams and Coulter lived in their own place a few miles away.
Lt. Dennis Wilford described Williams as “manipulative” and noted that she claimed she didn’t report her son’s death out of fear of Coulter.
"This mother had a year to contact law enforcement so you can't tell me that for every minute for a year you were afraid," he said.
Wilford classified the mother as “an abuser by omission.”
While he dismissed her claims of being afraid, he characterized the kids’ fear as authentic.
"I believe it was absolute fear,” he said, noting that Coulter was the physical abuser. “Over time, 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."
The surviving 9-year-old suffered an injury to his jaw, which investigators have attributed to Coulter. Investigators noted Wednesday that he requires surgery.
When investigators arrived on the scene over the weekend, the kids were hungry and apparently asked the deputies for doughnuts. The deputies recalled the scene on Wednesday.
"The apartment was in a horrible condition. We saw soiled carpet, no furniture at all. No bedding, no blankets that we could see. We saw roaches and flies and a very bad condition for anyone to live in," Gonzalez said.
There are two fathers connected to the children found in the home. One is already dead and the other was not in the picture. There are also two other siblings connected to the family.
“I couldn’t imagine her [Williams] ever being like that,” Linda Smith, grandmother of one of the children, told the Daily Beast. “I never saw her like that. She wasn't like that when she was around me.”
The children are in the care of Child Protective Services. Williams and Coulter remain behind bars. Coulter’s bond has been set for $1 million. It is not clear if he, or Williams, have a lawyer at this point.
