Was Miranda Sipps Texas cheerleader the victim of child abuse at the hands of her parents? Denise Balbaneda and her stepdad, Gerald Gonzales arrested for failing to seek help for daughter’s injuries which ultimately led to her death.
The parents of a 12 year old Texas cheerleader have both been accused of intentionally failing to seek out medical treatment in the treatment of life threatening injuries the girl sustained days prior.
Miranda Sipps, 12, died in hospital on Monday night.
Police said she had been drifting in and out of consciousness for several days before her family sounded the alarm and rushed her to hospital. But by then it was too late. The girl would die less than two hours later.
Victim of child abuse?
Denise Balbaneda, 36, the girl’s mother and stepdad, Gerald Gonzales, 40, both of Christine, TX, were charged with Injury to a Child Causing Serious Bodily Injury by Omission, a first degree felony.
Police declined to specify the nature of the injuries which ultimately led to Sipps passing away and or how she may have sustained said injuries.
Nevertheless a report via KENS5 alluded to the girl’s death as a consequence of child abuse.
Explained Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward: ‘We still have a little bit of doubt. We still need to figure that out.’
Soward during a press briefing said that the parents didn’t want law enforcement present at the house.
Dispatchers received a call for medical assistance at around 8pm on the night Sipps died.
They met up with the family at at Highway 16 South and FM 140 where EMS workers found her ‘alive but unconscious’.
Results of autopsy pending
Miranda was rushed to Methodist Hospital in Atascos where she was pronounced dead less than two hours later.
Detectives launched an investigation into the circumstances of her ‘serious’ injuries and determined she had sustained them on August 8.
‘The investigation revealed the parents failed to seek medical assistance for the girl, even though she was mentally and physically incapacitated and non-responsive,’ Soward told reporters.
‘It appears the mother finally called 9-1-1 when the girl went into respiratory distress.’
Balbaneda and Gonzales were booked into the Atascosa County Jail on Tuesday.
An investigation is ongoing and a full autopsy to determine the girl’s cause of death is pending.
At a press conference, police said they were not releasing details of her injuries as they were not yet sure how they were sustained. Police confirmed Miranda Sipps did not have any broken bones or marks on her body.
They did disclose that police had previously been called to the family home without giving further information.
‘They told us how the injuries happened and they told us they failed to act,’ Sheriff David Soward said.
‘You can throw out how the injuries occurred, you still have a duty as a parent to provide medical care for a 12-year-old child.
‘We’re not talking them assaulting the child, trying to kill the child or anything like that we’re talking about them failing to act.
‘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.’
Additional charges?
The official stated that he believed the parents thought they could nurse her back to health, but were trying to avoid attracting any external attention from law enforcement to their home, which he described as ‘unkept’.
However, he indicated there was nothing else untoward discovered at the home in terms of alcohol or narcotics.
Bond for each parent was set at $200,000 each.
The preteen was a cheerleader with the Jourdanton Junior High Cheer team.
Family members have since set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to help cover funeral costs where they paid tribute to the youngster.
More charges could be forthcoming conditional on the results of an autopsy on the deceased girl.
