Parents who gave dying cheerleader daughter smoothies in failed attempt to nurse her back to health to face jury

Parents who gave their dying 12-year-old daughter smoothies in an attempt to nurse her back to health will face a jury trial.

Miranda Sipps, a cheerleader at Jourdanton Junior High School in Texas, suffered a series of “life-threatening injuries” for about four days before she tragically died on August 12.

Before her sudden death, Denise Balbaneda, 36, Miradna’s mother, and Gerald Gonzalez, 40, her stepfather, allegedly plied the teen with vitamin-rich smoothies in a bizarre attempt to cure her of the devastating illness that left her unconscious.

“She wasn’t talking, she could actually flutter her eyes and move her hands a little bit,” Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward said, adding that her mother and stepfather “left her on a pallet in the house” while she suffered. .

The sheriff said the parents “basically confessed” to police that they had not sought medical treatment for Miranda and instead opted for vitamins, smoothies and supplements even though she could not swallow.

After realizing her child was in respiratory distress, Denise finally decided to call 911 just hours before Miranda was pronounced dead at Methodist Hospital.

On August 16, the sheriff’s office said an autopsy showed Miranda “suffered trauma to her neck,” but the medical examiner’s final report is still pending.

The couple was formally charged on Tuesday and will face a jury trial on February 3, according to court documents reviewed by DailyMail.com.

Her mother, Denise Balbaneda (left), 36, Miranda’s mother, and Gerald Gonzalez (right), 40, her stepfather, have been accused of feeding the child vitamin-rich smoothies in a bizarre attempt to cure her of her devastating illness

At the time, Denise placed Sipps in her car and headed to the hospital, but 911 dispatchers soon advised her to meet the ambulance at the intersection of Texas Highway 16 and FM 140 so they could care for her.

Medics treated Sipps as she made her way to hospital, and staff immediately practiced life-saving measures on her as soon as she arrived, but according to Soward, “they couldn’t really do anything.”

The sheriff previously revealed that the couple may have decided to drive Miranda themselves because they didn’t want police to see their “unkempt” home. KSAT reported.

“We determined that Sipps was alive when found by her mother, although she was in urgent need of medical treatment,” the sheriff’s office stated at the time.

Miranda’s mother and stepfather “failed to seek medical attention for the girl even though she was mentally and physically impaired and unresponsive,” the Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office said.

Soward said he believes Denise and Gerald chose to “nurse her back to health” themselves because they didn’t want “the attention this would attract if the little girl got hurt.”

On Tuesday, both Denise and Gerald were charged with the crime and a jury trial will take place on February 3. (Photo: Miranda and Denise in 2022)

“That’s strangely ironic, but that was their thinking,” he added.

Both adults were arrested on August 13 – a day after Sipps died – and later released on $200,000 bail each.

Denise and Gerald have been charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury through negligence – a first-degree felony.

Following the tragic death of his daughter, Patrick Sipps, Miranda’s biological father, shared his immense grief on Facebook.

On August 27, he shared heartbreaking images from her funeral, as an array of flowers covered her grave.

‘One of the hardest days of my life. But I know you’re watching over us. We watch you paint the sky for us, love!! As beautiful as you,” Patrick wrote, adding, “RIP sweet angel Miranda Sipps.”

Following the tragic death of his daughter, Patrick Sipps, Miranda’s biological father, took to Facebook to share his immense grief, saying: ‘I love you to the moon and back, girl’

In September, he posted a photo of Miranda and said, “I wish you were here with us today. Not a moment goes by that we don’t think of you. I love you to the moon and back, girl.”

A GoFundMe A page has also been created to help Miranda’s family cover the costs of her funeral.

“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,” the organizer wrote.

The fundraising page is no longer accepting donations, but has raised more than $8,300 in Miranda’s honor.