The mother and stepfather of a 12-year-old Texas girl were arrested on a felony charge after she died from serious injuries they tried to treat with smoothies for four days instead of seeking medical attention, police said. Miranda Sipps, a cheerleader at Jourdanton Junior High School in Christine, Texas, was pronounced dead at 9:55 p.m.
on Aug. 12 after being taken unconscious to the hospital, according to a by Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward. Her mother called 911 less than two hours before the girl's death and met emergency responders on a local highway to have them attend to Sipps, who was alive but unconscious, police said.
Investigators determined that Sipps suffered serious, life-threatening injuries on Aug. 8, and her parents "failed to seek medical attention" for four days even though the girl was "incapacitated and non-responsive," per the release. The cheerleader's mother, Denise Balbaneda, 36, finally called 911 when Sipps went into respiratory distress, police said.
Soward said at a news conference on Aug. 15 that he’s “not 100% sure” how the injuries occurred. He said the police investigation found that the girl was "not talking" and could only "flutter her eyes and move her hands a little bit" while laying on a pallet in their home over the four-day period before her mother called 911.
No other children were in the home at the time, Soward said. The sheriff added that the parents were trying to treat the injured girl by having her drink smoothies. "T.