What crime has been committed?

Actually, both of those charges would fit.

Since the mother died, they were charged with murder instead if injury to elderly.

Since they were there, and allegedly saw her fall, their act of leaving her on the floor without helping her constitutes injury to elderly, and since it caused her death, murder does fit.

I know you read the statutes. You are one of the rare few who does look at what the law says.

Look at the wording in 22.04 Particularly the part about "recklessly by omission:.

They failed to take action when they knew she was injured.

They did not cause her fall, but she died due to their act of not helping her.

Sec. 22.04. INJURY TO A CHILD, ELDERLY INDIVIDUAL, OR DISABLED INDIVIDUAL. (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence, by act or intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly by omission, causes to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual

And of course in 19.02 it states:

Sec. 19.02. MURDER. (a) In this section:

(b) A person commits an offense if he:

(1) intentionally or knowingly causes the death of an individual

These two sons knowingly caused their mother's death by leaving her injured on the floor and making no effort to help her.

They were living with her. The article even states that , "For almost the next three months, the brothers continued to live in the home with their mother's body on the floor"

They cannot claim that they did not know she fell and needed help, since they lived in the home and admitted they were there when she fell and they left her there.

Culpability for criminal acts is defined in chapter 6 of the penal code.

Sec. 6.03. DEFINITIONS OF CULPABLE MENTAL STATES.

(b) A person acts knowingly, or with knowledge, with respect to the nature of his conduct or to circumstances surrounding his conduct when he is aware of the nature of his conduct or that the circumstances exist. A person acts knowingly, or with knowledge, with respect to a result of his conduct when he is aware that his conduct is reasonably certain to cause the result.

Sec. 6.04. CAUSATION: CONDUCT AND RESULTS. (a) A person is criminally responsible if the result would not have occurred but for his conduct, operating either alone or concurrently with another cause, unless the concurrent cause was clearly sufficient to produce the result and the conduct of the actor clearly insufficient.

Any reasonable person would know that someone laying on the floor without help for a long enough period of time will die from lack of nutrition and dehydration, at the least.

That makes them culpable, "knowingly" under 6.03(b).

The brothers knew that their mother was injured, and the resultant death of their mother would not have occurred if they had helped her.

That makes them criminally responsible for her death under 6.04(a), even though they did not cause her to fall in the first place.

I have to admit, this is a VERY bizarre case, but i can see why they have been charged with murder.

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