A 17-year-old Texas girl, Kara Walker, appeared before a Harris County judge overnight in connection with the death of her eight-year-old brother earlier this year.
Investigators allege that Walker and her boyfriend were responsible for the boy’s death, but neither has been charged with murder. Instead, both face charges of injury to a child. Prosecutors have declined to explain why more serious charges have not been filed, saying only that the investigation is ongoing.
According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Walker was arrested on Wednesday, several months after the boy was rushed to Baytown Methodist Hospital on 10 February. He was unresponsive when brought in by Walker and her boyfriend and died five days later.
At the time, Walker’s boyfriend claimed the child had been injured in a fall. However, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said hospital staff raised concerns, noting that the explanation did not match the boy’s injuries.
An autopsy later determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma. Court documents revealed that the child had been “abused and tortured over several days,” and that the injuries sustained led to his death.
