Texas parents charged after 3-month-old suffers multiple broken bones, toddler sibling tests positive for meth
LUBBOCK, TEXAS: The parents of two children have been charged with child endangerment and injury to a child after a three-month-old suffered multiple broken bones while her elder sibling tested positive for methamphetamine. The incident came to light after the mother of the children, Alexzandria Sellers, took the younger sibling to the Covenant Women’s and Children’s Emergency Room for “leg swelling” on July 20. According to court documents, when doctors examined the infant, they found a fractured femur along with an older fracture of the left clavicle that may be older and not healing. They also saw a distal femur fracture. The official documents also stated that the child had lost half a pound since her weigh-in two weeks earlier. The incidents were reported to Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) investigators as “intentional trauma” by the doctors at the hospital.
The report also claimed that the child was born prematurely at 26 weeks in April and she was released from the care of the doctors in June only. The infant “looked severely underweight" and “you could visibly see her ribs and bones”, as per DFPS investigators. The 25-year-old mother had no explanation for the infant’s injuries, the document stated. Investigators also interrogated the 29-year-old father of the children, Oscar Gonzales, who told them he put the baby’s legs “Indian style” on the bed. But did not provide details on why he did that. Later, he allegedly told investigators that the children’s mother Sellers asked him to lie about what happened to the infant.
Meanwhile, for many days, Sellers continued to tell investigators that she had no idea how the baby injuries happened. She also said that the car seat may have led to the child’s clavicle injury. But days after the infant was put into the hospital, she called the police and told them that Gonzales told her he placed the baby’s arms behind her and took pictures of her with her arms pinned behind her back, and behind/above her head. The mother said he admitted to her capturing the alleged abuse.
After Sellers’ statement, a warrant was obtained and investigators searched Gonzales’ phone, where they found several photographs showing the alleged abuse of the infant. The pictures included the baby’s arms behind her taken on July 4 while another photo taken on July 10 showed the baby’s legs being different in color, and a June 24 image showed a bloody diaper. There was one more picture reportedly taken on June 12 that showed Gonzales passed out while smoking synthetic marijuana. The report by DFPS investigators said that the infant’s two-year-old sibling tested positive for methamphetamine. It has been reported that due to the severity of the unexplained injuries along with the “concerns of the parents lying about what occurred”, both the siblings have been placed under emergency custody. While the two-year-old boy was put in a foster care home, his younger sibling was kept in the hospital awaiting surgery for her injuries.
Both the parents have been booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center. They have been held on a $40,000 bond each.