A 12-year-old Texas girl died after her mother and stepfather allegedly failed to seek medical care for her life-threatening injuries, authorities said Wednesday, Aug. 14.

According to a statement from the Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office, the underage cheerleader died at Jourdanton Jr. High School on Monday, August 12.

An investigation launched by the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division shortly after the girl’s death revealed that she had suffered “serious, life-threatening injuries” on the evening of Thursday, August 8, four days earlier.

“The investigation revealed that the parents did not seek medical attention for the girl even though she was mentally and physically incapacitated and unresponsive. It appears that the mother eventually called 9-1-1 when the girl began to experience respiratory distress,” the statement said.

At a news conference, Sheriff David Soward said the parents had tried to care for her at home while she was “mostly unconscious” and had “tried a few remedies,” including a smoothie with vitamins. “Obviously, that’s difficult to do with someone who is unconscious,” Soward added, later identifying the victim as Miranda Sipps, who would turn 13 later this month.

“Basically they thought they could nurse her back to health, and we don’t think they wanted the attention it would bring if the little girl was injured, which is oddly ironic, but that was their mindset,” he said.

Soward did not elaborate on Sipp’s injuries or how they occurred. He admitted he was “not 100 percent sure.” However, he said she was “able to blink her eyes and move her hands a little” when authorities arrived. He added that he also believes her parents may have gotten her oxygen at some point.

The mother and stepfather – identified by the sheriff’s office as Denise Balbaneda, 36, and Gerald Gonzales, 40, of Christine – were arrested on August 13 and booked into the Atascosa County Jail.

They were charged by the Sheriff’s Office with aggravated assault of a child by omission, a first-degree felony.

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Authorities said they received a 911 call from the victim’s mother at home and later picked her up on the way to the hospital. EMS then took Sipps to Methodist Hospital in Atascosa.

Soward said he was convinced the mother left the house because they did not want police in the house.

Medical personnel treated the minor “vigorously,” but there was nothing they could do, the sheriff’s office added. She was pronounced dead at 9:55 p.m. local time.

The investigation is ongoing and the final autopsy report is pending, according to the sheriff’s office.