Left: Kara Walker. Right: Nolan Stallings (Harris County Sheriff's Office).
A 17-year-old Texas girl stands accused of contributing to the death of her 8-year-old brother by torturing him "over several days," according to authorities.
Kara Walker faces a charge of injury to a child with serious bodily injury, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez wrote on X (formerly Twitter). She was arrested on Wednesday, more than six months after her younger brother died. Walker's boyfriend, 18-year-old Nolan Stallings, was previously arrested on the same charge.
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"The complainant was abused and tortured over several days," police wrote in a motion for sufficient bail. "The injuries that resulted from the abuse caused the complainant's death."
Gonzalez said the abuse is believed to have occurred on Feb. 10 at a home in the 100 block of Greendell Street in Highlands, near Houston, where Stallings lived with his family. Investigators accused Walker of beating the boy with a blunt object. Stallings, who was indicted last week, is accused of beating the boy with blunt and unknown objects, as well as with his hand.
Authorities responded to a local hospital after the boy arrived with serious injuries that appeared to be from abuse. He died a few days later.
Stallings was arrested a few weeks later, on March 4.
Investigators told local CBS affiliate KHOU that Stallings told them the victim, who has not been publicly identified, "fell down a lot." But the injuries were consistent with abuse, according to cops.
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Stallings remains in the Harris County Jail on a $1 million bond, while Walker has a $100,000 bond. Walker's next court date is scheduled for Tuesday. In a motion for reducing his bond, Stallings noted the incident occurred roughly nine days before his 18th birthday and that he was a high school student. A judge declined to reduce the bond.
Deputies have not divulged a motive for the alleged torture, nor have they expanded on how they believe the abuse occurred.