Theresa Balboa charged with capital murder in Samuel Olson case
Mugshot of Theresa Raye Balboa after she was transported to the Harris County Jail from Jasper County on June 4. (Photo: Houston Police Department)
HOUSTON - A capital murder charge has been filed against Theresa Balboa in the death of 5-year-old Samuel Olson, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
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Balboa – Olson’s father’s girlfriend – was previously charged with tampering with evidence in the case. However, court records state Balboa killed Olson by hitting him with a "blunt object."
MORE: Theresa Balboa's bond at $600K total after $100K added for previous charge
Olson was reported missing on the evening of May 27. A few days later, a tip led authorities to a motel room in Jasper where the boy's body was found.
Balboa was taken into custody in Jasper and transported to the Harris County Jail.
A criminal complaint against Balboa claims she showed her roommate Olson's dead body back on May 10, two and a half weeks before reporting him missing.
RELATED: Third suspect charged in Samuel Olson case; now out on bond
The roommate, Benjamin Rivera, is also charged with tampering with evidence in the case. Rivera is accused of helping Balboa move the boy’s body to a bathtub and later a storage unit, according to court documents.
RELATED: Second person in jail, charged in connection with Samuel Olson's death
According to claims in an arrest affidavit, the boy’s body may have been kept in the storage unit for two and a half weeks.
A third man, Dylan Walker, 27, is charged with tampering with intent to impair a human corpse. Police paperwork says Walker helped Balboa move a storage container with a "foul odor" from a storage unit to the motel in Jasper.
RELATED: Authorities release Samuel Olson's cause of death
According to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, Olson's cause of death was homicidal violence with blunt head trauma. Additionally, lawyers have filed a motion that she be denied bail.