A Texas couple accused of trying to cure their dying teenage daughter with smoothies will stand trial come February.
The girl's mother, Denise Balbaneda, 36, and stepfather, Gerald Gonzales, 40, both of Christine, Texas, have been charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury by omission, in connection with the death of 12-year-old junior high school cheerleader Miranda Sipps, according to the Atascosa County Sheriff's Office.
The couple were arrested following the incident in August, but released on $200,000 bonds days later, according to KSAT-TV.
They appeared in court last week where a grand jury indicted them on the charges as they were both appointed attorneys.
Officers first responded to a call for medical assistance placed by Balbaneda, who was driving her unconscious daughter to a hospital Aug. 12.
Dispatchers instructed Balbaneda to pull over along the highway so paramedics could meet her to begin treating Miranda while they transported her to a medical facility, the sheriff's office said. The teen was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.
"Sheriff's investigators were able to determine the child received serious life threatening injuries" days earlier, the sheriff wrote on Facebook at the time.
"The investigation revealed the parents failed to seek medical assistance for the girl, even though she was mentally and physically incapacitated and non-responsive. It appears the mother finally called 9-1-1 when the girl went into respiratory distress."
Authorities did not elaborate on Miranda's injuries, but claimed the parents tried to treat her with smoothies and vitamins instead of seeking medical help, according to My San Antonio News.
"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," Sheriff David Soward told reporters at a press conference in August, according to the outlet. "Which is strangely ironic, but that was their line of thinking."
"She was not talking, she basically could flutter her eyes and move her hands a little bit. Over a four-day period, they had her laying on a pallet in the house," Soward said, Austin-American Statesman reported.
The parents have not entered pleas.
A cause of death for Miranda has not been released.
