A 12-year-old boy returned to his Texas apartment after school, but no one was home. His mom and her boyfriend weren’t at work or grocery shopping or a doctor’s appointment. Instead, they allegedly moved out after he got on the bus that morning. According to a neighbor, Erica Renee Sanders and her boyfriend, Keven Dwayne Adams, apparently had a history of kicking the child out of the house. Sadly, this behavior wasn’t a huge surprise.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by KCEN, the principal at S.C. Lee Junior High School, which the boy attended, contacted the Copperas Cove Police Department about the situation. The principal told police the child got off the bus, and when he walked into his family’s apartment, it was completely barren. When officers arrived about 5:30 p.m. October 17, 2025, a neighbor had the boy in their apartment.
The child reportedly told police the apartment did not look that way when he left for school. That morning, it had furniture and household items inside. A neighbor told police that Sanders and Adams had a history of locking out the child. They’d apparently heard him pounding on the door in the past, KCEN reported. An officer on the scene, familiar with the family, corroborated the witnesses’ statements and noted “a history of contention” in the police report.
But that wasn’t the worst part of the story. Police contacted Adams by phone, who reportedly told officers Sanders did not kick the child out. Rather, she was living with him now, and her son wasn’t welcome at his home, the outlet reported. Sanders told police she arranged for her brother, Dawayne Anthony Harwell, to pick up her son. But Sanders refused to provide Harwell’s contact information to police or an estimated pickup time.
Police took the boy to the police station and contacted Child Protective Services. Hours passed, and police finally got in touch with Harwell’s girlfriend, who told them the man had no idea he was supposed to pick up the child. CPS told police to release the boy to Adams, but the man would not provide any information about his location. Investigators ultimately tracked him down, matching utility bills in his name to a residence.
When police arrived at the home, the boy’s grandmother, identified only as Francine, refused to let the child in, per KCEN. Adams reportedly told police by phone that he would not take the child if police had a warrant for Sanders. When Adams finally arrived at the residence on foot, it had been more than five hours since the boy got off the school bus.
Now, Adams and Sanders both face abandoning and endangering a child without intent to return charges, and Sanders faces an evading arrest charge.
We’re sorry, but who does this? What person in their right mind thinks it’s fine to just peace out on a 12-year-old and move away, hoping the kid can figure their life out on their own? Prosecutors in Coryell County certainly won’t put up with it.
According to online records, they’re both sitting in Coryell County Jail, with Adams on a $10,000 bond and Sanders on a $14,000 bond. No one’s come to bail them out, so it looks like they’ve been abandoned for a while themselves. Hopefully they like their new home behind bars.
