Virginia Gonzales (City of Austin/Austin Police Department).
In Texas, a mother is facing felony charges for allegedly confining her 7-year-old daughter in a dark closet without access to food or a bathroom, citing the child’s tendency to “always get into stuff” and her bladder issues. During a court hearing this week, the mother attempted to defend herself by stating she had “adequate food for everyone in the home” and that she was “never violent.”
“I don’t dispute that I was in the wrong,” Virginia Gonzales, 33, acknowledged on Tuesday in the 331st Criminal District Court. This admission came as the Travis County District Attorney’s Office requested a judge to increase Gonzales’ bond from $75,000 to $250,000, a motion first made in June, as reported by local NBC affiliate KXAN.
“I know what I’ve done was wrong,” Gonzales said, while appearing to hurl the blame at her other kids for the alleged mistreatment.
Gonzales explained to the court, according to KXAN, “I instructed them not to let her out of the [bed]room but not the closet. We’d catch her in the restroom doing something bad. It was easier for [my sons] to watch her that way.”
Gonzales — who police say has another kid that’s been missing since 2017 — is charged with causing serious bodily injury to a child after her daughter was found soiled and severely malnourished after spending several weeks inside the closet. The girl, who weighed just 29 pounds, was reportedly found by her grandmother at the mother’s residence in Austin.
Gonzales is accused of ordering the girl’s six siblings to keep her locked inside the small space, which is approximately 3 feet by 1 foot, 10 inches, police said. The children range in age from 2 to 14; they allegedly told their grandmother that the girl was being punished by Gonzales for “getting into stuff” and eating things she was “not supposed to,” according to police.
The victim’s brother, who is 10, allegedly said the girl was only allowed to eat one corn dog a day and given a half-cup of water to drink. She defecated and urinated inside the closet, according to her siblings. APD Child Abuse Unit detective Ryan Constable described her condition Wednesday in court.
“The fat in her cheeks was nonexistent,” he said. “Her body had used those stores to sustain itself.”
Gonzales alleged during the hearing that she wanted to “fight” for her kids and prove that she deserved to have them in her life, according to KXAN. She claimed she “never spanked them” and did “nothing” to harm them physically.
“I’m ready to do whatever I need to keep my children,” Gonzales said.
Austin cops have placed the children in protective custody as they continue to look for Gonzales’ missing child, Ava Marie Gonzales, who disappeared in 2017 when she was 9 years old.
Cops say the closet victim suffered permanent brain damage and prolonged starvation as a result of the imprisonment, which was discovered in April. The closet where the girl was allegedly being held was barricaded.
“It is absolutely horrifying,” said Judge Chantal Eldridge.
Gonzales is charged with three counts of injury to a child and one count of unlawful restraint. Prosecutors seeking the increased bond argued Gonzales was a flight risk and called witnesses to testify on that issue, including Gonzales’ own mother, who said she would flee.
Valerie Gonzales, who had raised the defendant since she was 13, said Gonzales had a history of failing to appear in court.
“She didn’t show up for a weed charge, you think she’s going to show up for this?” Valerie Gonzales said. “I know my daughter, she’ll run from this.”
Eldridge ultimately agreed with prosecutors, increasing Gonzales’ bond to $250,000. She was immediately arraigned, pleaded not guilty, and her trial was scheduled for January 2026.
Authorities have asked anyone with information related to the missing sibling, Ava, to contact the Austin Police Department.
