By Julianne McShane -
NBC News
A Texas couple was arrested for the alleged murder of their 7-year-old adoptive son, found dead four months ago inside a washing machine, Harris County Sheriff Ed González (which includes the city of Houston) reported Tuesday.
Jemaine Thomas, 42, is charged with murder punishable by death, and Tiffany Thomas, 35, with injuring a minor by omission.
Police found the lifeless body of Troy Koehler on July 28 inside a washing machine at his home in Spring, north of Houston.
The boy had been reported missing hours earlier, according to the sheriff.
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Troy KhoelerHarris County Constable Precinct 4
The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences autopsy ruled the death a homicide and that the boy had "new and previous injuries," he reported on Twitter.
According to local NBC News affiliate KPRC, court documents indicate
the boy suffered suffocation, blunt force trauma and possible drowning
, as well as multiple bruises to his body and injuries to his face.
Authorities also found blood in the washing machine and in other parts of the house, according to KPRC.
Court documents indicate that officers arrived at the scene around 5:20 a.m. and were told by the parents that their son had been missing for more than an hour, according to KPRC.
But the authorities found it minutes later in a washing machine in the garage, according to the aforementioned media.
Documents show the parents were upset with the boy for eating Tiffany's porridge, and threatened to put him in the oven until he confessed.
They also blamed him for having eaten some Jemaine brand donuts.
Text messages included in court documents obtained by KPRC show that after learning the boy ate the donuts, Jermaine wrote: “I need [locks].
I'm going to end up killing him."
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KPRC indicated that the minor was adopted by the couple in 2019.
Jail records indicate Tiffany is being held on $150,000 bond and has a hearing set for Thursday.
Authorities said she did not appear in court after her arrest "for mental health reasons," according to KPRC.
Jemaine is listed as a detainee in Harris County jail records, but there are no charges against him.
KPRC reported that authorities said Jemaine's bail was set at $2 million.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
