Parents charged over death of 7-year-old son whose body was found inside washing machine
"I'm so sick of this boy. Like I'm really tired of him and don't want him in this house no more."
This was what Tiffany Thomas wrote in a text message she sent to her husband, Jermaine, about their adoptive son who was found dead in the couple's washing machine after he was reported missing.
On July 28, 42-year-old Jermaine and Tiffany, 35, called the Harris Country Sherriff's office to report that their seven-year-old son, Troy Koehler, was missing since the night before.
The deputies then proceeded with the search at the couple's residence at Rosegate Drive in Texas. The investigation took over an hour with the use of drone aircraft and canine assets, but yielded no results.
According to court documents obtained by Fox News, the authorities conducted a second search inside the home around 7:10 a.m.
This was when a deputy searched through the couple's garage and utility room and found Troy's body at the bottom of a too-loading washing machine.
As the deputy yelled out to his colleagues and checked if Troy was still breathing, the officer was shoved aside by Jermaine to pull the child out of the washer.
Deputies ordered Jermaine to place Troy on the floor, with other deputies immediately performing CPR on the boy. At the same time, the couple was detained and removed from the scene.
Troy's clothes were damp and smelled of urine at the time he was found, one deputy said.
Authorities, in addition, stated that the washer was unlikely to have been used while his body was there.
According to Fox News' report, a medical examiner at the Harris Country Institute of Forensic Sciences concluded that Troy had suffered new and previous injuries. The child's death was ruled a homicide.
Jermaine has been charged with capital murder, while Tiffany is faced with injury to a child by omission.
'Don't want him in this house no more'
Prior to the incident last July, Child Protective Services was alerted twice by Troy's school about the child's suspicious injuries, which included blackened eyes and facial bruising.
In addition, court documents have shown that the parents have been feeling resentful toward their son, who they adopted from foster care in 2019. The couple were verbalizing it to each other through text.
One instance was when Tiffany told Jermain that she "threatened to put him (Troy) in the stove and turn it on" as a way of forcing the child to tell the truth about eating her oatmeal creme pies.
Another was when Jermaine learned Troy had eaten his donut ticket and texted Jermaine, "I need to get the (locks). I'm going to end up kill him. You going to come home and he going to be hang from the f*** tree outside."
On July 7, Tiffany sent another text to her husband that reads, "F*** that I'm for not doing s*** for his birthday. I'm so sick of this boy. Like I'm really tired of him and don't want him in this house no more."
Three days before Troy was reported missing, Jermaine received another text from Tiffany that says, "This boy got life f***** up. Why I come out the restroom from taking my shower and his funky a** is in the living room watching TV."
Jermaine's bail bond is set at $2 million, while Tiffany's is at $150,000.