A medical examiner has officially ruled an Houston 8-year-old boy’s death, who was discovered inside a hotel with “horrendous” injuries, a homicide according to ABC 13. In March, police and firefighters arrived to a possible drowning call at the Quality Inn and Suites around 11 p.m. However, investigators said it was obvious there was more to it. Police reveled Keyontae Holzendorf was discovered unresponsive with both new and old injuries, including patches of missing skin and deep ligature marks.

Detectives said the 8-year-old passed away the night of March 24, after being tortured by his mother and her common-law husband for months. While the investigation continued into the case, police said Kayla Holzendorf told them she and her common-law husband had sex while her son was dying. Now, 24-year-old Kayla Holzendorf and her 28-year-old husband, Dominique Lewis, are being charged with injury to a child and tampering with evidence.

Harris County court records revealed details just hours after the child’s maternal grandparents told ABC13 his mom concealed him from them before his death. Sheryl Holzendorf, Keyontae’s grandmother, traveled to Houston following the news of the boy’s death. She told ABC13 she had no idea about the abuse.

“It’s just shocking that this could happen to us,” Sheryl said. “None of us knew what was going on because [Keyontae’s mother] was so short on the phone, and every time that we would talk to her and Keyontae, she would have his face covered or we couldn’t see his face at all. We could just hear him in the background, so we had no idea this was going on.”

Sheryl said she and her family did not know Keyontae and his mother were staying at a hotel with her common-law husband.

The couple told investigators they “don’t know what happened” to Keyontae according to court records. Police said they saw new and old injuries on his body the night he died and the details are graphic. Injuries include burn patches on his chest and body, burns to the shaft of his penis, bruising to the left side of his forehead, a laceration to the left ear, small puncture wounds to different places and ligature marks on his ankles and wrists.

Kayla told investigators they sent Keyonate to the hotel room bathroom to take a bath while she and Lewis had sex. When they checked on him, they found him unresponsive in the bathtub.

Sheryl said Kayla called her after the incident. She said the minute she heard the news, she and her family packed up and traveled to Houston. This included Sheryl, Kayla’s father, Timothy Holzendorf, her stepmother, Ericka Holzendorf, and their children.

“I want everybody to know that Keyontae had a family,” said Ericka. “We love him. He wasn’t by himself, and he’s not alone, and we’re here to find out what happened … we’re here until we get justice.”
The family has since set up a GoFundMe account to help give Keyontae a proper burial.

Kayla’s next court date is scheduled for Dec. 8, while Lewis is scheduled for Nov. 30.

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