US girl, 12, dies after parents treat life-threatening injuries with smoothies, vitamins
- Miranda Sipps’ mother and stepfather were arrested and charged with one count of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury by omission
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”.