A 12-year-old girl from Texas has died after her parents failed to seek medical help for her mysterious illness and instead tried to cure her with smoothies.
Miranda Sipps, who was a cheerleader at Jourdanton Junior High School, suffered unknown life-threatening injuries for approximately four days before tragically passing away on Monday.
During that time, Denise Balbaneda, 36, Sipps’ mother, and Gerald Gonzales, 40, her stepfather, gave the teenager vitamin-rich shakes 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 severely injured girl lay in a “bed” and drifted in and out of consciousness.
Cheerleader Miranda Sipps, center, died after her mother and father failed to seek medical treatment for a mysterious injury, according to investigators. Instead, the teen’s parents tried to treat her with milkshakes.
Investigators believe the parents may have been reluctant to seek medical attention because they did not want police to come to their home, which authorities described as “unkempt.”
No further details have been given about the injury that ultimately killed Sipps or how he may have sustained it.
Dispatchers received a call for medical assistance around 8 p.m. the night Sipps died.
They met up with the family at Highway 16 South and FM 140, where EMS workers found her “alive but unresponsive.”
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 succumbed to life-threatening injuries, has been accused of waiting four days to get 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 of his “serious” injuries and determined he suffered them on August 8.
“The investigation revealed that the parents failed to seek medical assistance for the child, even though she was mentally and physically incapacitated and unresponsive,” police said in a statement.
At a news conference, Sheriff David Soward explained that the young cheerleader had not been “talking.”
“Basically, I could move my eyes and hands a little bit over a four-day period,” he continued.
The sheriff also noted that because the girl was unconscious, she was unable to “swallow” the shakes.
Christine, 12, was a cheerleader for the Jourdanton Junior High cheerleading team.
As the cheerleader’s condition worsened, her mother finally contacted authorities on Monday.
“It appears the mother eventually called 9-1-1 when the child went into respiratory distress,” the police statement said.
On Tuesday, Balbaneda and Gonzales were booked into the Atascosa County Jail, where they were charged with first-degree felony injury to a child by omission.
If convicted, the parents could 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 is pending to determine the cause of the girl’s death.
Sheriff Soward said investigators were not releasing details of her injuries because they were not yet sure how she sustained them. He confirmed there were no broken bones or marks on her body.
He revealed that police had previously been called to the family home without providing further information.
“They told us how the injuries occurred and they told us they did not act,” Sheriff Soward said.
“You can dismiss how the injuries occurred, but you still have a duty as a parent to provide medical care to a 12-year-old,” the law enforcement officer continued indignantly.
“We’re not talking about them attacking the child, trying to kill him or anything like that, we’re talking about them not acting.”