Houston, TX- The mother of an 8-year-old kid in Texas allegedly did nothing to stop her boyfriend from fatally beating him and instead forced his siblings to deal with his decaying body for a year.
Last Monday, Gloria Yvette Williams, 38, admitted blame for her son Kendrick Lee’s murder, pleading guilty to causing serious bodily injury by omission.
Brian Ward Coulter, her 34-year-old partner and husband, was convicted guilty of first-degree murder in April following a five-day bench trial. He was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of release.
Shocked investigators started looking into the case in October 2021 after a child who was fifteen years old at the time contacted 911 to report that he and his brothers, who were seven and ten years old at the time, had lived in a house in west Houston for a year with Kendrick’s body.
Coulter and Williams hid the body of Kendrick under a blue blanket when he died in late 2020, and then they left the kids behind when they relocated to another apartment, according to investigators. A few weeks after the 15-year-old’s 911 call, the two were apprehended by the police.
While Kendrick was still alive, the siblings observed Coulter beat him repeatedly, according to their testimony. While Kendrick was being beaten, the youngest brother informed the judge that he watched his eyes until he stopped blinking.
“The death of Kendrick Lee was so tragic, and because of the fact that for so long there was no one to speak up for him, we felt like we had a duty to be his voice,” said Assistant District Attorney Celeste Byrom after Coulter’s conviction. “It was important that we were able to secure justice for him.”
Said co-counsel Edward A. Appelbaum: “No matter who you are, if you’re a human being, the facts of this case would shake you to the core. It’s a horrific act.”
The allegations against Williams centered on her alleged inability to provide enough care, shelter, and medical attention to Kendrick. On November 11, she will be sentenced to a maximum of 55 years in jail, as stipulated in her plea deal.