A Texas mother who did nothing to stop from her boyfriend beating her 8-year-old son to death before leaving his body in an apartment will spend 50 years in prison.
Gloria Yvette Williams, 38, pleaded guilty last month to causing serious bodily injury by omission in her son Kendrick Lee’s death. Her boyfriend, Brian Ward Coulter, 34, received a life sentence without parole for first-degree murder in April.
At her sentencing hearing Tuesday, Williams expressed regret for allowing her children to live with her son’s body, stating it was to protect them from Coulter, Houston Chronicle reports.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Kendrick Lee’s 15-year-old brother called police in 2021 to report that the boy’s body was inside their Harris County apartment. Responding officers found Kendrick’s skeletal remains in the home, which was in deplorable condition and without electricity.
Investigators said the boys had been left alone in the apartment for several months while Williams and Coulter were living elsewhere, after failing to report the death.
The couple lived with the boys’ remains from November 2020, when he died, to March 2021. When they moved out, they left Kendrick’s three brothers behind.
During the time Williams and Coulter lived with the boys, the brothers were sometimes locked in a room with Kendrick’s decomposing remains, the boys told investigators.
During Williams’ hearing, prosecutors presented crime scene photos showing the horrific condition of Kendrick’s body and the boys’ living situation. Rather than projecting the images on screens, they presented printed photos for witnesses to view privately.
Following her arrest, Williams surrendered her parental rights to her children. The two younger siblings have been adopted, while the oldest is currently placed with a foster family, ABC News reports.
“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.”
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[Feature Photo: Gloria Williams and Kendrick Lee/Facebook]
