Texas Couple Arrested After 12-Year-Old Comes Home From School to Find Parents Moved Out Without Him

COPPERAS COVE, TEXAS — A Texas couple is behind bars after allegedly abandoning a 12-year-old boy, leaving him to come home from school and discover that his parents had moved out without telling him where they were going.

Police in Copperas Cove said the boy’s mother, Erica Renee Sanders, and her boyfriend, Keven Dwayne Adams, were arrested after officers found the child standing alone in an empty apartment with all his family’s belongings gone.

‘He Came Home to an Empty Apartment’

According to an arrest affidavit obtained by KWKT, police responded to a welfare call on Friday after a neighbor reported that a 12-year-old boy had been left behind.

The child told officers that when he got home from school, the apartment was empty — no furniture, no clothes, and no sign of his parents. The only thing left was the shock that they had apparently moved out without him.

He then went to a neighbor’s unit for help and showed them the vacant apartment.

“He said his mom and her boyfriend had mentioned moving, but he didn’t know it would be that day,” the report stated.

Parents Claim an ‘Uncle’ Was Coming — But He Knew Nothing

When police reached Sanders and Adams by phone, the couple claimed that the boy’s uncle was supposed to pick him up, but they refused to give officers any contact details or a current address.

Investigators later contacted the uncle directly — who told police he had no idea about any such plan and had not agreed to take in the child.

Meanwhile, the neighbor who had taken the boy in told officers this was not the first time the couple had kicked the child out of their home.

Adams Complained About the Child, Refused to Cooperate

Police said Adams “complained at length” about his girlfriend’s son during their conversation and refused to give any details about where the couple had moved.

Child Protective Services (CPS) also attempted to contact Sanders and Adams for an updated address, but both allegedly refused to cooperate.

The boy was temporarily placed in the care of child services as authorities proceeded with abandonment charges.

Couple Charged With Child Neglect

Police arrested Erica Sanders and Keven Adams on Friday. Both face charges of abandoning or endangering a child, according to court records.

Officers said the case was particularly disturbing because the couple appeared to have left the boy without food, supervision, or a safe plan, despite knowing his age and school schedule.

Community Shocked by the Case

The case has shocked residents in the Copperas Cove neighborhood, a quiet Texas community roughly 70 miles north of Austin. Many online users expressed outrage, calling it one of the “cruelest forms of neglect.”

The investigation remains ongoing as police and child welfare officials determine the next steps for the boy’s long-term care.

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