A mother has been sentenced to fifty years in prison for failing to intervene as her boyfriend fatally assaulted her 8-year-old son and subsequently forced her three other children to live with the boy’s decomposing body, as stated in court documents.
Last month, Gloria Yvette Williams, 38, admitted guilt in the case involving the serious bodily injury that led to the death of her son, Kendrick Lee. A judge convicted Brian Ward Coulter, 34, of first-degree murder in April, sentencing him to life in prison without the chance of parole following a five-day bench trial.
At her sentencing hearing on Tuesday, Williams expressed remorse to the judge for permitting her children to stay with her son’s body, explaining that her decision was made to protect them from Coulter, as reported by the Houston Chronicle. During Coulter’s trial, prosecutors presented graphic and unsettling images from the scene and of the boy in court. However, for Williams’ two-day sentencing hearing, they opted not to display these images publicly, choosing instead to show them to individual witnesses, according to the Chronicle.
Defense attorneys reportedly stressed that it was Coulter who inflicted the abuse, while prosecutors pointed out her lack of action. Prosecutors allegedly presented text messages exchanged between her and Coulter, revealing that despite her concerns about his treatment of the children, she continued to express her affection for him.
In October 2021, detectives were taken aback when a 15-year-old boy called 911 to report that he and his younger siblings, aged 7 and 10, had been living with Kendrick’s body in their west Houston home for an entire year. After Kendrick’s death in late 2020, it was discovered that Coulter and Williams concealed the boy’s body with a blue blanket and subsequently relocated to another apartment, abandoning the children. Authorities took the two into custody weeks following the 15-year-old’s emergency call.
The siblings reported witnessing Coulter assaulting Kendrick multiple times while he was alive. The youngest brother recounted to the judge how he observed Kendrick’s eyes, fixated on them until they ceased to blink during the assault.
“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.”
Williams is facing allegations for not providing Kendrick with adequate protection, medical care, food, and shelter.