HOUSTON – A woman has been sentenced to 50 years behind bars after it was revealed that she forced three of her children to live in squalor alongside the decomposing remains of their 8-year-old brother for more than a year in a Houston-area apartment that was riddled with filth and pests.
Gloria Williams, 38, displayed profound remorse during her sentencing, according to reports from local media.
The sentence followed Williams’ guilty plea in October to two counts of child injury, related to the abuse of her late son, Kendrick Lee, who died after being beaten by her boyfriend, as well as another child under her care.
When the authorities uncovered the boy’s body in October 2021, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez noted that numerous officers described the situation as one of the most horrifying they had encountered throughout their careers, remarking that it felt “too horrific to be real.”
Kendrick’s three surviving brothers had been left alone for months, appearing thin, malnourished, and deprived of basic needs when discovered in an unkempt Harris County apartment filled with flies and roaches, with carpets that had been soiled.
Officials shared that the children had anticipated their mother would report the abuse to the authorities after their brother was fatally beaten, but Williams never made that call. It was the eldest sibling, then aged 15, who eventually overcame his fear and reached out to law enforcement. The other two boys were aged 7 and 10 at the time of the discovery.
The sentencing occurred after a nearly two-day court hearing that centered on Williams’ culpability in Kendrick’s death. Her defense team largely held her boyfriend accountable for the majority of the abuse. Coulter was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole earlier in April for the beating that led to Kendrick’s death. According to the sheriff’s office, Coulter frequently assaulted the younger children and fatally struck Kendrick around Thanksgiving in 2020.
Following the murder, Williams and Coulter relocated to another apartment approximately 25 minutes away, abandoning the three surviving children, who were left to survive on their own as their brother’s body decayed.
After her arrest, Williams voluntarily gave up her parental rights. Subsequent to the legal proceedings, the two younger brothers have been adopted, while the eldest brother is currently residing with a foster family, reports indicate.