A 12-year-old Texas girl died after her parents refused to seek medical help for her mysterious illness, instead trying to nurse her back to health with smoothies.
Miranda Sipps, a cheerleader at Jourdanton Junior High School, suffered from unknown, life-threatening injuries for approximately four days before her tragic death on Monday.
At the time, Denise Balbaneda, 36, Sipps’ mother, and Gerald Gonzales, 40, her stepfather, were feeding the teen vitamin-packed smoothies in a bizarre attempt to cure her of a devastating illness.
Instead of rushing their daughter to the hospital, Balbaneda and Gonzales kept Sipps at home, where the critically injured girl lay on a “stump” and occasionally lost consciousness.
Cheerleader Miranda Sipps, center, died after her mother and father failed to seek medical treatment for a mysterious injury, investigators say. Instead, the teen’s parents tried to cure her with smoothies
Investigators believe the parents were reluctant to seek medical attention because they did not want police to come to their home, which authorities said was “uncared for.”
No further details have been released about the injury that ultimately proved fatal to Sipps or how she may have sustained it.
The dispatch center received a call for medical assistance around 8 p.m. the night Sipps died.
They met the family at Highway 16 South and FM 140, where emergency responders found her “alive but unconscious.”
Miranda was rushed to Methodist Hospital in Atascos, where she was pronounced dead less than two hours later.
Denise Balbaneda, the mother of a Texas cheerleader who died of life-threatening injuries, is accused of waiting four days for medical help
Denise Balbaneda (left) and Gerald Gonzales (right) have been charged in connection with the death
Detectives have launched an investigation into the circumstances under which she suffered “serious” injuries and have determined that she sustained them on August 8.
“The investigation revealed that the parents did not seek medical help for the girl, despite the fact that she was mentally and physically disabled and unresponsive,” police said in a statement.
Sheriff David Soward explained during a press conference that the young cheerleader was not “speaking.”
“She could basically blink her eyes and move her hands a little bit for four days,” he continued.
The sheriff also noted that the girl was unconscious and therefore unable to “swallow” the smoothies.
The 12-year-old girl from Christine was a cheerleader on the Jourdanton Junior High Cheer team
As the cheerleader’s condition deteriorated, her mother finally contacted authorities on Monday.
“It appears the mother eventually called 911 when the girl began having difficulty breathing,” the police statement said.
On Tuesday, Balbaneda and Gonzales were booked into the Atascosa County Jail, where they were charged with a first-degree felony: causing injury to a child by omission.
If found guilty, the parents face between five and 99 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
The investigation into Sipps’ death is ongoing and a full autopsy will be conducted to determine the girl’s cause of death.
Sheriff Soward said investigators were not releasing details about her injuries because they were not yet sure how they were sustained. He confirmed that she had no broken bones or scars on her body.
He did admit that police had been to the family’s home earlier, but gave no further information.
“They told us how the injuries occurred and said they didn’t do anything,” Sheriff Soward said.
“You can ignore the way the injuries occurred, but as a parent you still have a duty to provide medical care to a 12-year-old child,” the indignant police officer continued.
“We’re not talking about attacking the child, trying to kill him or anything like that. We’re talking about the fact that they didn’t do anything.”