The mother of a 5-year-old Houston boy whose body was found in a motel room has spoken publicly for the first time about his death, claiming his father shares some responsibility.
“I don’t see how he couldn’t, with all the evidence that has now been brought to light, how are you not involved?” Sarah Olson said when asked about Sam’s dad, Dalton Olson, ABC13 reported.
Theresa Balboa, Dalton Olson’s former girlfriend, has been charged with tampering with evidence, a human corpse, in the boy’s death.
Investigators believe she hid and moved Sam’s body, which was found in a plastic box at a Best Western in Jasper, about 135 miles northeast of Texas.
Balboa, who initially accused Sam’s mother and a man who presented himself as a cop of taking the boy, may face additional charges in the case, authorities have said.
Sarah held a moment of silence and prayer Tuesday at her attorney’s office before speaking out about Sam.
“He was sweet. He was very obedient. He was definitely a momma’s boy,” she said, according to the news outlet. “I always loved when he called me ‘beautiful.’”
The grieving mom said Dalton took Sam in January 2020 and never returned him, adding that the last time she saw him was for his fifth birthday last May.
“When I got there, he told me, ‘I knew you would come,'” she said. “And he basically stood with me the whole time. I was planning on taking him home that day. I was stopped.”
Sarah said she tried to work through the custody matters through legal channels but described the court system as “slow.”
Her attorney, Marco González, said Dalton, who did not respond to ABC13’s request for comment, had avoided being served with papers.
Sarah said she wishes to have her son — whose body is at a funeral home — cremated but has not decided whether to hold a public memorial.
She previously spoke through her attorney about the charges against Balboa, whom she met just once.
“Theresa is in custody, but she also strongly believes that the adults, you know, the child’s father, should also be in custody, because she feels 100 percent that they both have something to do with this,” Gonzalez said.
“So, she’s hoping, you know, praying that he also will be taken into custody. So that justice can be done for Samuel,” he added.
Balboa is being held on a $500,000 bond for the tampering charge, in addition to a $100,000 bond on an assault charge for allegedly choking Sam in November.
“I’m holding up. It’s hard,” Sarah said Tuesday, click2houston reported.
“I’m taking it day by day. No one ever expects anything like this to happen. I’m trying to understand things,” she added.
