Roommate of woman accused in 5-year-old Samuel Olson's death now charged in the case
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Ben Rivera, 27, has been charged with tampering/fabricating evidence in the death of 5-year-old Samuel Olson.....During an interview with Rivera, police say he told them he received a call on May 10 from Balboa saying Samuel was not breathing and telling him to come home. Court documents say the 27-year-old told police he returned to their apartment in the 15600 block of the Gulf Freeway in Webster that day and saw the child unconscious with bruising on his body. He said they placed Samuel's body in the bath tub where he stayed for two days. Rivera told police he went to Walmart on May 13 and bought duct tape and a plastic tote bin that they put the child in and took him to a storage unit where he remained until May 31. Police found the Walmart receipt during a search warrant, according to records.
After further investigation, court documents say police found evidence conflicting the timeline Rivera gave them.
During a search of his phone, investigators found a text message from Balboa to Rivera on May 5 saying that she needed to speak to him before he came inside the apartment. On May 12, court documents say Balboa sent a text to Rivera saying she was going to move Samuel's body to the bed, after learning from Rivera that the apartment's maintenance would be entering their unit that day. Surveillance video from a storage facility in Webster shows Rivera's truck with the bin Samuel's body was later found in in the back arriving on May 22."
