Texas mother gets 25 years after her daughter lay on a floor pallet for four days, given smoothies she couldn’t swallow, investigators say

A Texas mother will spend 25 years in prison in a case involving the death of her 12-year-old daughter, Miranda Sipps. The girl spent four days lying incapacitated at home while her parents allegedly tried to treat her themselves instead of getting her emergency medical help.

Denise Balbaneda, 38, was sentenced Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, according to the Atascosa County District Clerk’s Office, as reported by KSAT 12. Balbaneda was indicted in August 2024 on a charge of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury by omission and later accepted a plea deal, according to Globe.

Her husband, Gerald Gonzales, 42, who was Miranda’s stepfather, was indicted on the same charge and is set to be sentenced in November, according to the clerk’s office. The case began on Aug. 8, 2024, when Miranda was found with life-threatening injuries at the family’s home in Christine, Texas. An autopsy later found she had experienced trauma to her neck, though how she was injured has not been publicly established.

What happened afterward became a central part of the investigation

Rather than call for an ambulance, Balbaneda and Gonzales allegedly kept Miranda on a homemade bedding area on the floor, in an environment the sheriff’s office said was not kept clean. The 12-year-old, a junior high school cheerleader, could barely move, according to then-Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward. Over the next four days, she reportedly managed only slight eye movements and small movements of her hands.

The couple allegedly tried to help her recover at home. According to Soward, the parents tried to give her smoothies, vitamins and supplements, and may have obtained oxygen for her at one point. They did not call for emergency medical assistance until Miranda’s condition took a turn for the worse.

Soward said the parents “failed to act.” He also noted that “someone who is unconscious is not able to swallow,” adding that she had been lying on the floor for four days.

On Aug. 12, Balbaneda called 911 to report that Miranda was not breathing. She then put her daughter in a vehicle and tried to drive to the hospital in Jourdanton, but dispatchers told her to stop and meet EMS at State Highway 16 and Farm-to-Market Road 140.

Miranda was taken to Methodist Hospital Atascosa, where medical staff were unable to improve her condition. She was pronounced dead that evening, about two hours after arriving, according to Globe.

Records show earlier calls to the family’s home

Both Balbaneda and Gonzales were arrested the next day and booked into the Atascosa County Jail. Their indictments said they knowingly caused serious injuries to Miranda and failed to seek medical attention. KSAT has also reported on records of child injury and welfare calls made to the home before Miranda’s death.

Other recent cases have also ended in prison sentences after a child’s medical needs went unaddressed, including a Massachusetts mother sentenced after her 3-year-old son died while she was out overnight. Miranda would have turned 13 later in the month she died, and Gonzales’s case remains before the court.