The 12-year-old girl has passed away, and her mother and stepfather are in jail for allegedly neglecting to take the youngster to the hospital when she had potentially fatal injuries.
Officials disclosed at a news conference that Miranda Sipps had been “primarily unconscious” for a few days prior to her parents dialing 911. It was already too late when she was taken to a hospital.
A statement from the Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office states that on August 12 at 8:00 p.m., a woman called 911. Miranda was discovered “alive but unconscious” by first responders who encountered her on a roadway close to Christine, Texas.
The 12-year-old was taken to a local hospital, and less than two hours after she arrived, despite the efforts of hospital staff, she was declared dead.
The child’s death prompted the opening of an investigation right away.
Investigators found that Miranda had suffered “serious life-threatening injuries” on August 8th, and that her parents, Denise Balbaneda, 36, and Gerald Gonzales, 40, had neglected to get her medical attention despite the fact that she was “mentally and physically incapacitated and non-responsive.”
Rather than using a medical professional, Balbaneda and Gonzales tried to heal their daughter on their own by feeding her a vitamin smoothie.
“Obviously, managing an unconscious person is difficult,” Sheriff David Soward stated at a press conference.
“Basically, they believed they could heal her, and we don’t think they wanted the attention this would bring if the young child got hurt—which is oddly ironic, but that’s how they thought,”He stated.
Balbaneda waited until her daughter had respiratory distress before dialing 911.
Miranda’s injuries were not disclosed by Soward, who stated he was “not 100% sure.”
Following their arrests, Gonzales and Balbaneda are accused of intentionally harming a kid by leaving them unattended.
