The parents of a 12-year-old Texas girl were arrested on Tuesday after authorities said they failed to promptly seek medical attention for a life-threatening injury and instead tried treating her with a smoothie.
Miranda Sipps, a Jourdanton Junior High School student from Christine, a small town south of San Antonio, was identified as the 12-year-old who died, Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Sipps, who died Monday, had been seriously injured since last Thursday, but her parents did not seek medical attention for her, authorities said, withholding more information about Sipps’ injury. Her mother, Denise Balbaneda, 36, and her stepfather, Gerald Gonzales, 40, are facing charges of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury by omission, a first-degree felony.
Detectives began investigating the case when the Atacosa County Sheriff’s Office received a call stating that Sipps had stopped breathing. She was alive when emergency responders arrived and took her to the hospital, where she died shortly after.
Officers who were investigating the case learned that Sipps received fatal injuries on Thursday, and they alleged that her parents failed to seek medical assistance for days, despite their daughter being “mentally and physically incapacitated and nonresponsive,” Soward said.
“She was not talking, she basically could flutter her eyes and move her hands a little bit,” he added.
It’s unclear how Sipps sustained her injuries, although Soward noted, “It had nothing to do with school.”
“We have a story from the mother, but at this time we are not prepared to release that,” the sheriff said.
Soward also revealed to reporters that Balbaneda attempted to treat her “primarily unconscious” daughter with remedies such as a smoothie with vitamins and, at one point, oxygen.
“Basically, they thought they could nurse her back to health,” he said. “We do not think they wanted the attention that this would draw to them if the little girl was injured, which is strangely ironic, but that was their line of thinking.”
The investigation is ongoing; authorities are still waiting on the final autopsy report. It’s unclear if the parents have attorneys representing them.
A GoFundMe has been started to help with funeral costs after Sipps’ death. The person organizing it, Pricilla Chapa, wrote on the GoFundMe that Sipps is their niece, saying, “She was taken from us far too soon in an unexpected way, leaving behind a legacy of love, laughter, and memories that we will cherish forever.”
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