A judge found Brian Coulter guilty of killing his girlfriend’s 8-year-old son, saying even with all her experience, this is one of the most horrific cases she’s ever heard.
Coulter was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In closing arguments, prosecutors framed Capital Murder suspect Brian Coulter as a calculating, gaslighting and jealous boyfriend who killed his girlfriend’s 8-year-old son in a selfish and intentional move to spend more time with her.
Coulter’s accused of killing Kendrick Lee and letting his body decompose for nearly a year. Prosecutors also framed Coulter as a spiteful, jealous and angry man in Monday’s closing arguments.
The prosecution told the court Coulter decided to put all the kids in a room so they’d be out of sight and out of mind.
Coulter, sporting his ‘Warrior’ tattoo across the front of his neck, sat emotionless in his yellow prison garb as the prosecution played back phone conversations and showed pictures -- evidence they told jurors proved Coulter was in complete control of what happened with his girlfriend’s children. And he held that stance even when the conversation was replayed where Kendrick’s oldest brother called 911 to tell them his brother had been dead in their apartment for a year.
Here’s a look back at what happened in this tragic case from the Houston area that captured headlines across the country.
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What happened?
Harris County Sheriff’s deputies were sent around 3:15 p.m. on Oct. 24, 2021, to conduct a welfare check at the apartment located at 3535 Green Crest after the 15-year-old called and said his younger brother had been dead for a year in the apartment.
When deputies arrived, they found the three boys living in horrid conditions, and sadly, evidence of what the teen described.
According to court documents read aloud during a probable cause hearing, Coulter, the boyfriend of the children’s mother, fatally beat the boy to death in front of his siblings. The boys said Coulter struck the eight-year-old in the face, feet, buttocks, back, legs and groin and that Coulter continued to kick and hit the boy after he had stopped moving. The seven-year-old said that he stared at his older brother’s face while Coulter was kicking and hitting him and at some point, during the beating, his brother stopped blinking.
The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences said the child died from homicidal violence and suffered multiple blunt force injuries.
What happened after Kendrick died?
The three brothers, ages 15, 10 and 7, were left alone in an apartment for months, while the body of their 9-year-old brother was decaying inside another room in the home. HCSO Sheriff Ed Gonzalez noted the children were living in squalid conditions and it appeared they had been fending for themselves for some time.
“Very horrific situation out here, very tragic,” Gonzalez said during a news conference Sunday. “Been in this business a long time and I had never heard of a scenario like this. It really caught me by surprise.”
What were the charges?
The mother of the children, Gloria Y. Williams, 35, has been charged with injury to a child by omission and tampering with evidence (corpse). Her boyfriend, Coulter, has been charged with murder in the death of the Williams’ child, whose skeletal remains were found in the apartment, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. Authorities said Williams and Coulter had been together for several years. At some point in the relationship, Coulter began beating the children on a consistent basis.
Why is the trial by a judge and not a jury?
Coulter has chosen an unconventional path and opted to waive his right to a jury trial. Originally scheduled for February, Coulter’s capital murder trial will be presided over by Judge Kelli Johnson, who will decide punishment based on the chilling evidence regarding the child’s death.
What’s next for the mother, Gloria Williams?
Williams is set to appear in court next on April 12 and her fate will be decided by a jury.
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