World News | Child's Death Ruled Homicide, Remains Found in Apartment

Houston, Oct 26 (AP) The death of a child whose skeletal remains were found inside a Houston-area apartment along with three surviving siblings who appear to have been abandoned has been ruled a homicide, officials said Tuesday.

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences in Houston, which conducts all autopsies in the county, listed the primary cause of death as "homicidal violence with multiple blunt force injuries."

Also Read | US to Put Sputnik V and Other COVID-19 Vaccines on ‘Green’ Travel List After WHO Authorisation, Says CDC.

Michele Arnold, a spokeswoman for the institute, said her agency could not provide additional details.

Deputy Thomas Gilliland, a spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff's Office, also said he could not immediately provide any more information because his agency was still investigating the death.

Also Read | WHO Says Decision on Covaxin’s Emergency Use Listing Recommendation Expected Within 24 Hours.

No charges have been filed.

One of the surviving siblings, a 15-year-old, called the sheriff's department Sunday and told authorities his 9-year-old brother had been dead for a year and the body was inside the apartment, according to the law enforcement agency.

Deputies found the teen and two other siblings, ages 10 and 7, living alone in the apartment, said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. The 15-year-old told authorities his parents had not lived in the apartment for several months.

The mother of the children and her boyfriend were later located, authorities said. Both were questioned and later released.

Gonzalez said it appeared that the surviving children were "fending for each other," with the oldest sibling caring for the younger two.

Their apartment didn't have any power and a neighbour had helped the children by charging a cellphone for them and buying them food, Gilliland said.

The younger children appeared to be malnourished and had physical injuries, according to the sheriff's office. All three siblings were taken to a hospital and assessed and treated.

The children last attended school in May 2020, said Craig Eichhorn, a spokesman for the Alief school district. They didn't return for the 2020-2021 school year and school officials attempted an unsuccessful home visit in September 2020, Eichhorn said.

A judge on Monday granted the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services temporary custody of the three children.

Investigators were still trying to determine why no one with the apartment complex had noticed anything unusual, Gilliland said.

Highmark Residential, the property management company which runs the apartment complex, did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Tuesday. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)