Man at center of abuse, abandonment case arrested at gas station in Nov. 2020 - the same month investigators say he fatally beat 8-year-old boy

Authorities allege that sometime in November of last year, Coulter beat his girlfriend’s child to death

KPRC 2 has learned that Brian Coulter, the man at the center of a horrific abuse and abandonment case, was jailed for a week in November 2020 -- the same month investigators say he beat his girlfriend’s eight year-old child to death.

In November of last year, Coulter spent nearly a week in a county jail following an incident at a Buc-ee’s convenience store in Luling, Texas, according to the Luling Police Department.

At about 7 p.m. on Nov. 23, 2020 an officer with the Luling Police Department was dispatched to the Buc-ee’s location to conduct a welfare check on a man Buc-ee’s employees said appeared intoxicated. They told dispatch they believed that the individual, later identified as Coulter, was carrying a handgun.

The officer met Coulter at his car, parked near the store entrance. A woman, later identified as his girlfriend Gloria Williams, was sitting in the passenger seat next to Coulter. There were no children in the vehicle.

“I knocked on the driver’s side window to get the attention of Coulter, whom I instructed to place his hands on the steering wheel,” the arresting officer wrote in an incident report. “I had to instruct Coulter multiple times to place his hands on the steering wheel. When I opened the driver’s door to detain Coulter, I immediately detected the strong pungent odor of marijuana emitting from his persons and the cabin of the vehicle.”

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When the officer asked Coulter if he had a gun on him, Coulter replied “Do I have a gun?” When asked again, Coulter said he did and that it was in his waistband.

During the encounter, Coulter stated that he didn’t want any problems and that he had a license to carry. As he continued talking, his lethargy became more pronounced, the officer noted in his incident report.

“During my initial encounter with Coulter, his speech was slow and lethargic, which led me to believe that he was intoxicated by means of introduction of narcotics into the body,” the officer wrote in the report.

Coulter told the officer he was traveling from Houston to Houston. Williams said they were traveling from Houston to San Antonio.

RELATED: Paternal grandmother of one of Gloria Williams’ children speaks to KPRC 2

Though both Coulter and Williams denied there were any drugs in the car, the officer found an envelope filled with what appeared to be marijuana in the center console. The envelope had Coulter’s name on it. In a purse, the officer found a clear plastic baggie with marijuana in it.

When officers confiscated Coulter’s handgun they noted that it had a round chambered. An additional eight rounds were in the magazine.

Though he did have a license to carry the gun, Coulter was charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon because he was also in possession of marijuana, Luling Police Chief Bill Sala said.

“At that time, Coulter was in possession (care, custody, and control) of drug paraphernalia, therefore was also unlawfully carrying a handgun, a violation of the Texas Penal Code (TXPC),” the officer wrote in the arrest report.

Buc-ee’s asked the officer to issue criminal trespass warnings to both Coulter and Williams.

Coulter was taken to Seton Edgar B. Davis Emergency Room to have his temperature checked, transported to the Caldwell County Jail, and released to jail staff without further incident, according to the arrest report. Coulter made bail on a $1,000 surety bond six days later and was released from jail around noon on Nov. 29, 2020.

The Luling Police Department said it hopes the information on Coulter’s Nov. 23, 2020 arrest will help investigators in Harris County with their current case.

RELATED: Court docs say 2 kids saw brother’s beating death -- just one disturbing revelation uncovered in west Harris County abandonment case

Authorities allege that sometime in November of last year, Coulter fatally beat his girlfriend’s child. That child’s skeletal remains were found Sunday after Williams’ 15-year-old son called authorities and reported that he and his younger brothers, ages seven and ten, had been living in an apartment with their brother’s decomposing body for nearly a year.

The children were found living in deplorable conditions in an unfurnished, insect-infested apartment. Deputies found the skeletal remains of the child in one of the bedrooms.

“For many agency veterans, it was the most disturbing case they had worked in their entire law enforcement career,” said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. “It seemed too horrific to be real.”

The teen said his mother and her boyfriend had vacated the apartment months ago. Investigators learned that the couple had moved into another apartment some 25 minutes away. Williams delivered food to the children periodically and when she didn’t, the teen would get food from neighbors. Authorities said the children were malnourished and living in a state of “absolute fear.”

After the Coulter and Williams were taken into custody Tuesday.

Coulter was charged with murder. Williams was charged with injury to a child by omission, injury to a child causing serious bodily harm, and tampering with evidence, namely a human corpse.

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Williams’ surviving sons described in gruesome detail how their brother was beaten to death.

According to court documents read aloud during Williams’ probable cause hearing, the boys said Coulter struck their brother in the face, feet, buttocks, back, legs and groin and continued to kick and hit him even 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.

Once he had killed the boy, Coulter laid out his body on the floor and covered him, according to the court documents. When the children’s mother came into the room, she saw the body on the floor, began crying and made the children leave while she fought with Coulter.

RELATED: Death of child whose remains found in west Harris County apartment ruled homicide

After she was arrested. Williams told investigators Coulter told her he was sorry and that “he lost it” and had continued punching the child until he “went to sleep.”

Williams told investigators Coulter told her that he was sorry and that “he lost it” and had continued punching the child until he “went to sleep.”

Coulter’s bond was set at $1,000,000. Williams’ bond was set at $900,000 -- $250,000 for the count of injury to a child by omission, $300,000 for the count of tampering with evidence, namely a human corpse, and $350,000 for the count of injury to a child causing serious bodily harm. Authorities said the they could face additional charges.

RELATED: 3 children, including skeletal remains of possible 9-year-old, found inside abandoned apartment in west Harris County, sheriff confirms


About the Author:

Briana Zamora-Nipper joined the KPRC 2 digital team in 2019. When she’s not hard at work in the KPRC 2 newsroom, you can find Bri drinking away her hard earned wages at JuiceLand, running around Hermann Park, listening to crime podcasts or ransacking the magazine stand at Barnes & Noble.