After her husband, Brian Coulter, beat their son, Kendrick Lee, 6, to death in 2020, Gloria Williams decided to move her and Coulter out of the apartment in Texas. However, her three children stayed behind, with Williams forcing them to live alongside the decomposing remains of Kendrick for a year. Coulter was sentenced to life while Williams was sentenced to 50 years in prison with the possibility of parole.
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According to two of the siblings who testified in court, Coulter would consistently beat up Kendrick. This would go on until the 8-year-old's death in November 2020. The three siblings would then have to endure gruesome months of having to live inside the same room with Kendrick's remains. This would happen even when the couple was in the house, until both moved out in March 2021, leaving them behind until October 25. That is when Kendrick's 15-year-old brother contacted authorities.
Once the authorities arrived at their home, they were shocked by the state of the apartment. "The apartment was in a horrible condition," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said at the time, according to PEOPLE. "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."
The most heartbreaking thing, however, was the fact that three children, aged 15, 10, and 7, would have to endure such a traumatic and torturous experience by themselves. Not only did they have to survive with a decomposing body, but they had to manage groceries. They were sent over by their mother once a month.
Couple Arrested And Sentenced
Police then arrested both Gloria Williams and Brian Coulter. Authorities charged Coulter with Kendrick Lee's death and Williams with two charges of injury to a child. In April, Coulter was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Williams was sentenced in November to 50 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to the charges.
The news was announced via a news release issued by the Harris County District Attorney's Office. "We expect parents to protect their children, not hurt them, because children really are our most vulnerable victims," said Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, "This case shocks the conscience not just because a child lost his life, but because of his parents' complete and total disregard for human life."
"We're grateful the judge listened to all of the evidence, evaluated it in a fair manner and that justice was served. It was an honor to speak up for the children who for so long did not have a voice"
Williams also waived the right to a jury trial. This ended up sparing her children from testifying in court after pleading guilty to the charges. Ogg describes this as the one time the defendant "finally acted like a protective mother."
Gloria Williams will have to serve at least half of her sentence in prison before being eligible for parole.
