The 7-year-old girl weighed just 29 pounds and was severely malnourished.
AUSTIN, Texas — Warning: This article contains details that readers may find disturbing.
A woman from Del Valle is facing first-degree felony charges, according to Austin police, after being accused of confining her 7-year-old daughter in a closet for several weeks.
Virginia Gonzales, 33, was arrested after the child’s grandmother found the girl barricaded in a bedroom closet on April 3.
Court documents allege the child was soiled, weighed just 29 pounds and was severely malnourished.
Authorities revealed that the small closet in which the child was kept measured less than 5 feet by 2 feet, lacking both light and ventilation. Considering the other items present within, the girl only had about 3 feet by 1 foot, 10 inches of usable space.
Reports indicate that the child’s siblings informed their grandmother that their mother, Gonzales, instructed them to lock their sister in the closet due to her struggles with bladder control and persistent behavior of “getting into stuff” and eating things she shouldn’t.
Her 10-year-old brother told police the girl was only allowed to eat one corndog for the day and given half a cup of water. The brother was ordered to clean the closet because the girl would urinate and defecate inside, police said.
Medical professionals report the young victim suffered permanent brain damage from prolonged starvation. She was taken to a local hospital to prevent refeeding syndrome, which is a metabolic disturbance that occurs when a starved or severely malnourished person is abruptly refed, leading to electrolyte imbalances and fluid shifts.
The girl and her six siblings – who are between the ages of 2 and 14 years old – are now in protective custody while Gonzales remains in jail.
Following the news of the arrest on Monday, the Austin Police Department said Gonzales is the mother of a missing 9-year-old girl, Ava, who hasn’t been seen since December 2017.
