A 12-page child fatality report shows Child Protective Services was involved, at multiple points, in the life of a family that included an 8-year-old boy whose corpse was found among his living siblings back in October 2021.
Despite multiple investigations, the state’s report did not reveal concerns about long-term abuse. Child advocates say that points to a deeper problem.
“When you see that many instances and reports, there’s got to be something there,” said president and CEO of Children at Risk Robert Sanborn.
Investigators believe little Kendrick Lee’s siblings were forced to live with his corpse for nearly a year. Kendrick’s mother is accused of abandoning her children in the apartment and not reporting her son’s death.
William’s boyfriend, Brian Coulter, is accused of beating and killing Kendrick.
The child fatality report also notes Kendrick’s 10-year-old sibling had his jaw broken by his mother’s boyfriend and received no medical treatment for several months.
The report revealed that their mother has six children in total. All in all, documents from the report show nine investigations by CPS involving accusations of abuse and neglect between April 2015 and Nov. 2020.
The accusations involving the children included physical and sexual abuse as well as neglect. Only twice did CPS determine there was a problem.
CPS noted the physical discipline by a former boyfriend left “marks and bruises” on a 7-year-old. CPS noted the child was adopted by the boyfriend’s parents who “agreed to be protective.”
The second instance involved Williams refusing to care for her 16-year-old daughter who, the report states, ran away from home, threatened suicide and was suspected of staying with an older man.
CPS took custody of the teen after confirming the mother committed “medical neglectful supervision and refusal to accept parental responsibility.”
The state’s report notes in the other investigations that CPS workers did not see any injuries on the children and the children denied being abused.
However, Sanborn said with this many visits, CPS should have realized there was a deeper problem.
Before Kendrick’s body was found, the state’s report shows CPS closed its last investigation which involved neglect of the teen daughter on New Year’s Eve 2020.
Harris County Sheriff’s investigators stated they believe Kendrick was killed in November of 2020.
“I know this system is overburdened and people have too much on their plate as it stands but the reality is, things like this cannot fall through the cracks,” said Sanborn.
Williams and her boyfriend, Brian Coulter, remain in the Harris County jail facing multiple charges. Last month, Coulter was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of capital murder involving Kendrick’s death.
