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.
Austin police say a mother in Del Valle faces first-degree felony charges after she was accused of keeping her 7-year-old daughter imprisoned in a closet for multiple 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.
Police said the tiny closet she was in measured less than 5 feet by 2 feet, had no light or ventilation. Due to the other items found inside the closet, the girl had approximately 3 feet by 1 foot, 10 inches of actual space.
The girl’s siblings allegedly told their grandmother Gonzales had ordered them to lock the girl in the closet because she had issues controlling her bladder and was “always getting into stuff,” eating things she was “not supposed to.”
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 – 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. APD will provide more details in the missing child case in a media briefing on Tuesday morning.