Left: Denise Balbaneda (Atascosa County Sheriff). Center: Miranda Sipps (Facebook/Denise Balbaneda). Right: Gerald Gonzales (Atascosa County Sheriff).
The mother of a Texas cheerleader has avoided trial in connection with her daughter's death after reaching a plea agreement.
Denise Balbaneda, 38, was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to injury to a child with intent to cause serious bodily injury or mental deficiency. Balbaneda and her husband, 42-year-old Gerald Gonzales, were indicted in connection with the death of Balbaneda's daughter, 12-year-old Miranda Sipps, who died on Aug. 12, 2024, after sustaining a fatal neck injury.
Authorities have not provided information about how Miranda sustained the injury, but Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward said at the time of Balbaneda and Gonzales' arrests that Miranda "was not talking, she basically could flutter her eyes and move her hands a little bit. Over a four-day period, they had her laying on a pallet in the house."
Soward said during a press conference held after the arrests that Miranda's injury did not occur at her school, where she was a cheerleader. He told the media, "Basically, they thought they could nurse her back to health. We do not think they wanted the attention that this would draw to them if the little girl was injured, which is strangely ironic but that was their line of thinking."
According to authorities, Balbaneda never sought medical attention for her daughter, who lost consciousness after sustaining the injury. Soward said that despite Miranda's inability to swallow, Balbaneda said she tried to give her daughter "smoothies" with vitamins and supplemental oxygen.
When Miranda went into respiratory distress, Balbaneda finally called 911. The preteen was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Soward said Balbaneda and Gonzales "told us how the injuries happened and they told us they failed to act. Throw out how the injuries occurred. Throw that out the window. You still have a duty as a parent to provide medical care for a 12-year-old child. That's what we're talking about right here."
A clerk from the 81st District Court told Law&Crime that Gonzales is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing on Nov. 5. A plea agreement was not confirmed. Gonzales previously pleaded not guilty to the same charge of injury to a child with intent to cause serious bodily injury or mental deficiency.