A 12-year-old Girl From Texas Died After Her Parents Used Smoothies to Treat Injuries That Could Have Killed Her
Authorities say a 12-year-old girl from Texas died Monday because her mother and stepfather didn’t take her to the hospital for four days after she got seriously hurt and instead tried to heal her with smoothies.
Police in Atascosa County say that Miranda Sipps, a cheerleader at Christine, Texas’s Jourdanton Junior High School, was found in serious condition on Monday evening after her mother called 911. Christine is a small town that is south of San Antonio by 45 miles.
Officials say that EMS found Sipps and her mom on the highway after they had left their home and rushed the unconscious child to the hospital. Sipps was declared dead soon after she got to the emergency room.
The sheriff’s office’s investigation showed that Sipps had experienced serious injuries that could have killed him the Thursday before. Sipps’ mother and husband failed to get her medical help for four days after that, even though she was mostly unconscious. There were no other kids in the house.
“She didn’t say anything.” “Over the course of four days, she could pretty much only move her hands and eyes a little,” Sheriff David Soward said at a news conference. “They had her lying on a pallet in the house.”
Soward said that Sipps’ parents tried to heal her wounds by giving her vitamin-rich soups. It got worse for the girl and she started having trouble breathing on Monday night. That’s when her mother finally called 911.
“They tried to give her smoothies, but someone who isn’t awake can’t swallow,” described Soward.
Denise Balbaneda, 36, was named as the mother, and Gerald Gonzales, 40, was named as the dad. Both of them were taken on Tuesday afternoon and charged with a first-degree felony for failing to protect a child from harm.
Investigators thought the couple didn’t go to the doctor because they didn’t want the police to come to their house. Even though they had called 911, Balbaneda still decided to leave their house and meet the police and firefighters on the road.
The reason why Sipps was hurt is still being looked into. Soward wouldn’t give any more information, only saying that they had nothing to do with her school, which started on Monday. The full medical report has not been sent yet.
Soward said he was surprised by how strange the story was.
“This doesn’t happen very often or at all, but that’s just how things are in this business,” Soward said. “The next call will be about something strange or that you’ve never dealt with before. This case is a good example of that.”
Sipps would have been 13 years old this month.
The sheriff’s office did not reply right away to more requests for information.