A 2-year-old girl is not expected to survive after suffering a fractured skull, lacerated liver, and other serious injuries in an alleged assault, Texas authorities said.
Gerardo Gonzalez, 29, and the child’s mother, Jazmin Cisneros, 28, have been charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
Gonzalez is accused of repeatedly hitting and stomping on the girl. Cisneros allegedly failed to seek medical assistance or contact authorities after learning about the abuse because she did not want Gonzalez to be jailed.
Deputies responded Aug. 6 to a report of a critically injured toddler at a home on Rendezvous Court in Spring, north of Houston. Paramedics airlifted the child to a hospital, where doctors found bruises across her body and a black eye, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Authorities said the girl also had a broken pelvis, a fractured skull, and a lacerated liver. Doctors do not believe she will survive. Gonzalez initially claimed the child had fallen in the bathtub and lost consciousness, the affidavit said.
Cisneros told investigators that the girl and a 7-year-old child were staying with her for the summer while their father remained in Chicago. She said she noticed on Aug. 1 that her daughter’s “right ear appeared to be sagging.”
After Cisneros confronted Gonzalez, he allegedly admitted hitting the child several times in the head. The following morning, the girl’s head and face were “extremely swollen,” and she had developed a black eye, according to the affidavit.
“The defendant stated she did not take the [girl] to seek medical care nor did she contact law enforcement because she knew the co-defendant would go to jail,” investigators wrote.
On Aug. 6, Gonzalez allegedly woke Cisneros and told her the girl was no longer breathing. The child was subsequently taken for emergency treatment.
After receiving his Miranda warnings, Gonzalez admitted hitting the girl four times in the head on Aug. 1 and stomping on her five days later, authorities alleged. Investigators said the stomping caused her liver and pelvic injuries.
Gonzalez remains in the Harris County Jail on a $1 million bond, while Cisneros is being held on a $500,000 bond. Both are scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
During Gonzalez’s probable cause hearing on Saturday, Harris County Magistrate Judge Temple Ramming addressed the seriousness of the allegations.
“The reason that you’re by yourself here today is that we don’t want anybody else to know what you’ve been charged with because this is the kind of place where if they hear what you’re charged with, you can get seriously hurt,” Ramming said, according to KPRC.
The judge added: “I’ve seen a lot of bad stuff in the last 15 years of practicing criminal law. This is one of the worst. The allegations here are very, very serious and extremely troubling.”