HOUSTON — It’s been almost two months since his disappearance, but Thursday, murder charges were finally filed in the death of Samuel Olson.
Police say Theresa Balboa, the former girlfriend of Samuel's father, was found last month at a hotel room in Jasper with Sam's body.
Now charged with capital murder, Harris County prosecutors are hoping to keep Balboa in jail, saying she’s responsible for the death of the 5-year-old.
The little boy’s body was found in June in a plastic bin inside a Jasper motel room. That’s also where they arrested Balboa. The child was reported missing five days before he was discovered.
Balboa was the one who reported Samuel missing, but police said there were holes in her story from the beginning.
“After she did an interview with the news, I said, 'Theresa, now you’ve lied to the entire world,'" said Tim Miller, Texas EquuSearch founder.
Helping in the search for Samuel, Miller says he suspected Balboa since the beginning. He even told Sam's father she had something to do with it.
“I said this girl right here you're sticking up for has everything to do with it. And that’s when she decided she needed to go into Ben's apartment and change clothes," Miller said.
He believes the pressure he put on Balboa during the search is what forced her to flee with Sam’s body.
“I know exactly what she did. She went in Ben's apartment and said, 'Hey, you know what? We got to get out of here. There’s too much heat going on.' She went and changed clothes, and it was shortly after that she disappeared," Miller said.
According to the initial autopsy report, Samuel died from "homicidal violence with blunt head trauma." And new documents say Balboa struck Sam with a blunt object back in May.
Two others, including Balboa's roommate, Benjamin Rivera, were charged with tampering with evidence in Sam's death and have since bonded out.
Balboa’s next court appearance is July 12. The DA is asking for no bond on that capital murder charge.
Sam's mother will hold a press conference Friday on her reaction to the new charges. Her family tells us they are planning a private memorial service for Samuel this weekend.