US girl dies after parents treat life-threatening injuries with smoothies

A 12-year-old Texas girl died after her mother and stepfather attempted to treat her life-threatening injuries with smoothies and vitamins, according to police.

Miranda Sipps, a cheerleader at Jourdanton Jnr High School, was pronounced dead on Monday night, Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward said on Tuesday night in a Facebook post.

Her mother, Denise Balbaneda, and stepfather, Gerald Gonzales, were arrested on Tuesday afternoon at their home in Christine, a tiny town about 72km (45 miles) south of San Antonio.

Sipps began suffering from life-threatening injuries on August 8, according to police. However, Balbaneda and Gonzales did not take her to a hospital, despite her being “primarily unconscious” during that time.

“Basically they thought they could nurse her back to health, and we do not think they wanted the attention that this would draw if the little girl was injured,” Soward said on Wednesday at a press conference.

The sheriff said Balbaneda, 36, and Gonzales, 40, fed Sipps smoothies and vitamins, even though for four days she could only “flutter her eyes and move her hands a little bit”.

The couple finally called 911 on Monday night after Sipps’ heart stopped beating around 8pm (local time), according to authorities. An ambulance met Balbaneda on the road as they were driving towards a hospital.

“Our information is they didn’t want law enforcement at the house, so she left with the child,” Soward said at the press conference.

Sipps was pronounced dead about two hours later. Authorities have continued investigating how she suffered the injuries, and her cause of death has not been determined.

Balbaneda and Gonzales were both charged with one count of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury by omission, a first-degree felony. They were held on US$200,000 bond.

Soward said law enforcement officers had been called to the house before, but did not elaborate on those calls.