Houston police have charged a woman and her husband in the death of the woman's eight-year-old son in a westside hotel room.
Kayla Holzendorf, 24, and her common-law husband Dominique Lewis, 28, initially reported the boy had drowned Tuesday night at the Quality Inn & Suites in the 2900 block of West Sam Houston Parkway. Responding paramedics performed CPR on the youngster in a hotel room, then took him to Texas Children's Hospital in Katy where he was pronounced dead. The family did not live at the hotel.
Police said the child was found on the floor in the middle of the room, where they noted multiple injuries on the boy's body that they said were not consistent with drowning. The injuries, which police told reporters included "large patches of skin missing from his chest, upper arms, thighs and genitalia," appeared to be both old and new.
Authorities say the boy, identified in court records as Keyontae Holzendorf, had first come to their attention on Feb. 28 when they received a report that he may have been the victim of abuse. He was discovered selling muffins outside a grocery store on Briar Forest, unkempt and injured. A police officer wrote in a report that the boy seemed playful and not fearful of his parents. The couple claimed he got the cuts and bruises falling off a bike. Child Protective Services found no records on the child.
Holzendorf and Lewis are both charged with injury to a child and tampering with evidence, according to the Houston Police Department. Handcuffs and duct tape were found in the room. The mother admitted to hiding the handcuffs, which led to the tampering charge. An autopsy will determine if charges against the couple might be upgraded. They are jailed, awaiting an initial court appearance.
PHOTOS: Houston Police Department