The mother of an eight-year-old boy whose body was left decomposing in a Texas apartment complex and her boyfriend have been arrested and charged with crimes related to the child’s death.

The couple, Gloria Y. Williams, 35, and her boyfriend Brian W. Coulter, 31, were arrested on Tuesday after they were found in a public library looking up online reports about her decomposing son. Williams was charged with tampering with evidence (the body of her son) and felony injury to a child by omission. Coulter was charged with murder for the death of the young boy.

On Wednesday, authorities revealed that according to the eldest sibling, a 15-year-old boy, he and his two younger siblings, a 10-year-old and seven-year-old were left in the apartment to fend for themselves as the body of their eight-year-old brother was decomposing in plain view. Authorities released the names of the children; however, because of their age, we will not disclose their names.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez shared in a news conference that the children were living in deplorable conditions and that they were allegedly left alone for several months. Gonzales described the home as having soiled carpets, flies, and roaches. The authorities added that there was no electricity in the apartment and that the boys were barely surviving as they lived alongside their decomposing brother for what allegedly had been at least a year.

Authorities explained that according to the 15-year-old, the boys were waiting for their mother to call authorities and report that their brother had been beaten to death. However, the 15-year-old finally called the authorities himself after he gained the courage to call for help. Gonzalez shared during the news conference on Wednesday, "For many agency veterans, it was the most disturbing scene they worked in their entire law enforcement career. It seemed too horrific to be real."

The grandmother of one of the boys spoke out on Wednesday as well and offered insight into the family. Linda Smith, 71 years old, shared with the Daily Mail, “I wish I would have known how bad of a situation those kids were in; I would have adopted all of the kids.” Smith also shared that the brothers had an older sibling who was 17 who did not live at the house at the time.

Smith shared with the Daily Mail that her son, Jonathan Kirklin, was the father of the surviving seven-year-old boy. She explains that her son was in and out of jail for the past couple of years and has largely remained absent from the seven-year-old’s life. Smith adds, “I soon found out when my son was in jail and I was at work, Gloria would have different men come over to my house. I don't know what she was doing with them. As soon as I found out I confronted Gloria with it, of course she denied it. But I told her she and her kids had to leave.”

Smith shared that she learned of the devastating news about the boys through the media. During an interview with the Daily Mail, Smith explains her grief and regrets not having done more to help the children out of what has been dubbed the “Texas House of Horrors.”

According to the Harris County Medical Examiner's office, the eight-year-old boy suffered several blunt force injuries that led to his death.

When authorities first arrived on the scene, multiple neighbors who lived next to the boys’ unit recounted seeing the boys only on occasion. Some neighbors described the 15-year-old asking for food and a place to charge his phone. Neighbors also recounted that they would only accept packaged foods and would routinely deny foods that were home-cooked. Neighbor Trevor Thompson shared with a local news outlet that the 15-year-old boy appeared to be fearful that unpackaged food was poisoned. Thompson explained that his suspicions grew around the situation after a conversation he had with the boy one day. When Thompson asked the 15-year-old if he liked the pizza that Thompson had bought him on a previous day, the boy responded with “What? The first pizza we had?” Thompson shares, “That made me wonder why would he say, ‘We.'” Other neighbors recount seeing the mother only on occasion as well, as she would stop by the apartment to drop off packaged food for the boys.

The surviving siblings were all taken to the hospital for examination. There, all the boys were found to be malnourished while the seven-year-old was found to have broken bones in his face. “It appears they were basically fending for each other,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told reporters. “The older sibling was doing the best he could to take care of the others.”

It was later revealed that the boys’ school district Alief Independent, had filed truancy papers against the boys’ mother because two of the boys stopped attending school. According to officials, the boys were last enrolled in school in May 2020.