Verdict in Texas Mother left children alone with brother's body for months
In Texas, a woman has been sentenced after her children lived with the corpse of her brother in a neglected apartment for months. The woman's partner had previously beaten the boy to death.
13.11.2024, 07:48
13.11.2024, 07:55
dpa
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- A 38-year-old woman from Texas has been sentenced to 50 years in prison.
- She allegedly left her children in a neglected apartment where the body of her eight-year-old son, who had been killed by her partner, was decomposing.
- Police discovered the neglected, malnourished children after the eldest son called for help.
A Texas woman was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Tuesday after leaving her children in a squalid environment. The children lived for months with the decomposing body of their eight-year-old brother in a cockroach-infested apartment in the Houston area. According to the "Houston Chronicle", the 38-year-old showed remorse for her actions before the sentence was handed down.
The conviction followed a guilty plea by the woman in October in two cases of child abuse. These concerned two of her children, including her eight-year-old son, who was beaten to death by her partner.
After a hearing lasting almost two days, which shed light on the extent of her responsibility in the death of her son, the mother was convicted. Her partner, who killed the boy, received a life sentence without parole in April. A few months after the fatal incident, the mother moved to another apartment with her partner, leaving the three surviving children behind while the brother's body decomposed.
"Too horrible to be real"
Police discovered the boy's body in October 2021, with Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez stating that officers described the scene as the most disturbing of their careers, calling it "too horrific to be real".
The dead boy's brothers had been living alone for months and were emaciated and malnourished when police found them in an unfurnished Harris County apartment. The apartment was infested with flies and cockroaches. The children waited for their mother to report their brother's death, but it never happened. Eventually, the oldest sibling, 15 years old at the time, overcame his fear and called the police. The other two children were seven and ten years old when they were found.
After her arrest, the woman relinquished custody of her children. The two younger siblings were adopted, while the eldest child was placed with a foster family, the newspaper reported.