Death of child whose remains were found in Texas apartment ruled homicide

A medical examiner has determined that the child found deceased in a Houston home where his brothers were residing alone died of homicide, KHOU 11 News reports.

The child, a 9-year-old whose skeletal remains were located on Sunday, died from blunt force injuries. His body had reportedly been in the apartment for a year.

“It appears that the remains had been there for an extended period of time. And I emphasize extended,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said, according to CBS News.

Authorities were alerted to the situation when a 15-year-old boy called police to report that he had been living with his younger siblings alone for months. The boy also noted the skeletal remains of one of his siblings were present in the apartment.

On the scene, police found the three abandoned minors, the youngest of which were malnourished and displayed signs of physical injury, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a release.

As of Monday, no charges have been filed against the mother of the children and her boyfriend, who were located, interviewed and released.

Child Protective Services (CPS) has become involved in the case.

“To ensure the safety of the children, the Department of Family and Protective Services is seeking emergency custody of the three boys,” CPS told KHOU 11 News. “Child Protective Services does have history with the family, but there was no active CPS investigation at the time the children were discovered alone in their apartment.”