Mom LOCKED UP for Cheerleader's Horrifying Death

For 4 days, a 12-year-old Texas. cheerleader lay gravely injured while. her mother tried giving her smoothies. and vitamins instead of calling 911. Now, the fatal [music] case has taken. another stunning turn, but the biggest. question may still be unanswered. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Picture. this 12-year-old girl lying on a mat on. the floor of her own home. She can't.

talk. She can barely flutter her eyes. She can move her hands just a little. bit. And she stays like that for 4 days. Her mom is giving her smoothies, vitamins, supplements, and at one point. possibly oxygen. But nobody calls 911. Not for 4 days. And by then, it's too. late. This girl, Miranda Sips, dies at. the hospital. She would have turned 13. later that month. And then you fast. forward two years. Her mother, Denise.

Balbanetta, pleaded guilty to her. involvement in this. And she's now been. sentenced. And I want to take you back. to August 2024. It's a small town in. Addiscosa County, Texas. And you have to. hear how this case first came into the. public eye because the sheriff himself. stood in front of reporters and laid out. details that are honestly just so hard. to hear which I'm going to get into. because it is important for the case. But as I said, Miranda Sips, 12 years. old, cheerleader cheerleader at Jeron.

Junior High. She lived in Christine, Texas. It's about 8 miles south of. Jordan. And on Thursday, August 8th, 2024, according to the sheriff, Miranda. sustained what he called serious. life-threatening injuries. The autopsy. later confirmed it. Trauma to her neck. And from that point on, she was. unconscious. And here's a major problem. Nobody called 911. >> She was not talking. She basically could.

flutter her eyes and lose her hands a. little bit. Over a 4-day period. They. had her laying on a pallet in the house. >> They were trying to give her smoothies, but somebody that's unc unconscious is. not able to swallow. Basically, they. thought they could nurse her back to. health. And I do not we do not think they wanted. the attention. that this would draw to him if the. little girl was injured.

uh which is. strangely ironic, but that was their. line of thinking. Just for the sake of. argument, 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. And that's what we're talking about. right here. the pallet the sheriff. mentioned his office would later. describe that as a homemade bedding area.

in an environment that wasn't being kept. clean. 4 days after the injury on August. 12th in the evening, that's when Miranda. goes into respiratory distress. And that. is when Balanetta finally calls 911 from. the home reporting her daughter isn't. breathing. But even then, she doesn't. end up waiting for the ambulance to show. up. Instead, she puts Miranda in the car. and starts driving to the hospital. herself. dispatchers have to tell her to. pull over and meet EMS at State Highway. 16 and Farm to Market 140. For anybody.

out there, by the way, who's putting. things out on social media, if you're. into content creation, you might be. wondering, how do we put clips out so. quickly? Well, we use something called. Opus Clip. Opus Clip is an all-in-one AI. editor that makes it so easy to cut, create, and upload videos across any. platform. Opus Clip generates B-roll, reframes footage, and it even cleans up. audio through AI. They find the best. moments from your content. You visit. opus.pro/sidebar, sign up, upload, and in minutes you'll. have perfectly edited clips that your.

audience is going to absolutely love. You use OpusClip as your source for Tik. Tok, shorts, reals. This is the most. powerful tool to edit like a. professional. Go to opus.pro/sidebar. to get a free week and then 50% off for. the next three months. That's. opus.pro/sidebar. >> Our information led us to believe they. didn't want law enforcement at the. house. She left with a child and then we. made contact with her by telephone. My. my dispatchers did and told her to pull.

over because EMS unit was not far away. So EMS did get the child and they. started immediate uh care to the child. and did everything they could for him. for her and got her to the hospitals as. quickly as possible. Uh, understand they. worked on her at the hospital for an. hour, but there was nothing they could. really do at this point. >> And later that evening, Miranda Sips, is. pronounced dead at Methodist Hospital, Ariscosa. The next day, Bal Banetta and.

Miranda's stepfather, Gerald Gonzalez, are arrested and booked into the county. jail, each held on a $200,000 bond. The. charge, according to the indictment, injury to a child, a firstdegree felony. But the wording of this is important. because the statute says that a person. commits an offense if he intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes a child. serious bodily injury. So, it's that she. was responsible for Miranda and failed. to act. So, not about intentionally.

killing her or anything like that. And. the sheriff made mention of that. distinction during the press conference. >> Sheriff, >> we're not talking about them assaulting. the child, trying to kill the child, or. anything like that. We're talking about. them failing to act and get that. 12-year-old girl medical attention like. she should have gotten. We don't have. evidence that anybody committed a murder. right now, but that's why we're. continuing our investigation. >> But this question here of how Miranda. got hurt, that was never really fully.

answered. Balbanetta and Gonzalez, they. basically confessed and the sheriff says. they told investigators how these. injuries happened, but authorities never. publicly disclosed it. And here's where. it gets even more complicated because it. turns out this home wasn't unknown to. law enforcement. Records that were. obtained by KSAT show deputies had been. called there before. There was a call. back in October of 2023. Someone. reporting Gonzalez was at the home and. refused to leave. Then November same. year, Jordan Elementary School called.

Child Protective Services to report. marks on a child. CPS relayed that to. the sheriff's department and according. to the records, no other information was. provided. And then there was a welfare. check in March of 2024 where a female. was reportedly seen with scratches, but. deputies were told the confrontation was. quote all verbal. So Denise Balbanetta. didn't go to trial. Instead, she pleaded. guilty and she was sentenced. And we're. going to talk about the specifics of. this and what it actually means. But I. want to bring in somebody who can help. us understand everything that's going.

on. So now, let me bring in Anthony Oso, criminal defense attorney, former. assistant district attorney. Anthony, always happy to have you on. Um, you. know, I'm sorry we're talking about. this, but I want to start about this. plea. So, she pleaded guilty to injury. to a child with intent to cause serious. bodily injury. Um, now to be clear, right, it's not saying that she intended. to kill this child. It's more of. neglect, right? I mean, what do you take. away from what she exactly pleaded. guilty to? What is she admitting? >> So, it's by omission, Jesse. And I think.

the way to look at it is she's not the. plea doesn't reflect what caused the. injury to the child initially. It's the. four days after the fact. It's not. taking the child to get um you know. medical treatment and what they believe. probably could have prevented serious. bodily injury and debt in this case. >> Yeah. And why do you think she plead. guilty? >> I think the facts are bad. I think the. fact that and and I haven't been able to. hear those statements. the the one of.

the things about the plea being. structured and there not being a. sentencing here or anything like that is. we didn't get to hear a lot about the. nitty-gritty facts in this case. But I. imagine that the statements made by both. defendants probably wasn't very. favorable to them. And I think that the. defense probably realized that when. you're facing up to life in prison, it. could have been a lot worse. >> How do you defend a case like this? I. mean, what would be the explanation for. not getting immediate care on the floor,

smoothies, vitamins? What I, you know, I. guess I've heard cases before where. parents can say this is the way that we. treat an illness. This is our own you. you can't invade how our our sovereignty. and how we treat our children, but that. only goes so far, I guess. I don't know. how you defend it, >> right? And I think after multiple days. where she's unconscious even and and and. look, failed attempts at providing her. nutrition through feeding her smoothies. I think that's a tough cell. This to me. has always kind of been a mitigation. case, right? What about these defendants.

or what about their circumstances. prevented them from or caused them from. not taking the child to the hospital? But again, a really tough case for the. defense. And so I think. I'm not surprised that it resulted in a. plea bargain. And I'm sure there was a. lot of negotiating going on behind the. scenes that resulted in this number. >> The sheriff said from day one he wasn't. sure how Miranda got that neck injury. He said he had a little bit of doubt.

How does a plea deal work when the. underlying facts of that injury, which I. think are so important, were never. publicly resolved? >> Well, that's largely why I think, Jesse, that the prosecution filed this um. intent to cause serious bodily injury by. omission instead of a murder, right? Because in the end of the day, they. never could prove what it was that. caused the neck injury to the child in. this case. And so I think that I I think.

it was a smart decision by the. prosecution and it also avoided any. fingerpointing um by Valvanada or. Gonzalez as to well I didn't commit the. murder or I didn't do this or I didn't. do that. So um yes it's definitely. something that we would like to know. U. but it doesn't it the actual what. ultimately or what originally caused the. injury isn't actually relevant to the. elements of this offense. It's when they. knew that that injury existed and she. was incapacitated, what did they fail to do? And what did.

that failure to do cause, which was. ultimately her death? >> Yeah. And it's still confusing as to. what they would have said. I'm still. carping back to that. Like, right, >> we didn't think she was serious. We. didn't think it was that serious. I. mean, I don't know. you know, >> you know, I I think I think there's I. mean, I think there's a lot of. circumstantial evidence there that. points to they're probably concerned. about what investigation would have. ensued had they brought her to the. hospital, >> maybe. >> And and if they do get her to a point. where she's conscious, then what would.

she say to the police about what. happened to her neck? I, you know, I'm. speculating a little bit, but um I'm. sure that was part of the prosecution's. viewpoint during these plea. negotiations. >> Let's talk about the sentence. So the. range, as far as I understood, was 5 to. 99 years or life. She gets 25 years. Walk us through that. >> She's got 25ear sentence. She'll be. eligible. This is 3G because it's a. serious bodily injury case. So um under. the statute in Texas, that means she's.

got to serve half of her sentence before. she's eligible for parole. So at 12 and. a half years, she can go to the parole. board. Um, that doesn't mean she will. get parrolled out, but that just means. that her case will be under review for. release at that time. Um, the number. kind of checks out based on what we've. heard so far. Like you said, we don't. know what caused the injury. I'm sure. the prosecution took that in mind, but. she'll have to do at least 12 and a half. years before she's released. >> Do you think she had an idea that that's. what she was going to get?

>> Well, and that's that's where I think. there's I'm a little confused. I I I my. understanding is that she agreed to that. number and I but I wasn't certain if she. if she plead open to the judge and was. sentenced by the court or if that was a. pre-negotiated deal between. >> the prosecution and the defense. >> It it's just you know someone would look. at that and say okay like it wasn't a. murder case right there doesn't seem to. be evidence or at least that was. presented that she intended to kill.

>> her child. Um, but at the same time, there's a child's life that was lost. Whole life is gone. And somebody would. say 25 years getting out maybe in a. shorter time with parole. I mean, is. that fair? Is that justice? What do you. think? >> Well, I think that as much as I'd like. to think that a good jury selection, a. good wardier could eliminate jurors that. might come to conclusions or assumptions. about facts that aren't in evidence.

My mind's telling me that a juror is. probably going to wonder, well, what was. it that caused that injury? And if it. was anything else but either Gonzalez or. Valanada, then why wouldn't parents. report that to the authorities? If she. got hurt at some extracurricular event. or she done something, then there's. nothing really preventing them from. going to the hospital. And I think the. concern from the defense's part is, well, if the jury points the finger at. my client and they believe she killed. the daughter and then or she caused that.

injury and then never provided medical. care, >> then we could be looking at a 40, 50, 60ear sentence. And so. it was a way to ensure some sort of. light at the end of the tunnel. >> What would she have to say or do to make. parole? And I also wonder at a parole. hearing, is it possible that that is. when it would be revealed more. circumstances about what happened to. Miranda? >> So I don't know that Baloneda would say.

anything at a parole hearing. I think. her conduct in custody in prison from. now until that time is largely what will. be used for. sort of on her side, right? And I think. that you can get a parole lawyer and. they could argue that she's had no. violations that she's been engaging in. activities or she's pursued certain. things to better herself as well as. rehabilitation and she's learned her. lesson. But I don't I don't it's hard to.

say what if anything she would say at a. parole hearing. Um but at the other side. of that is the f other family members. will have an opportunity. Um. anyone can really go and contest parole. And so I'd be issued to see 12 and a. half years down the line what that looks. like. >> Yeah. Yeah. Um but she doesn't she she. wouldn't have to make some statement. I. I feel terrible remorse for what I did. Let me tell you like No, >> I'm sure she could. I just I think I.

think that that's expected. I'd like to. see I think a lot of what Perole is. looking at is what what she's doing in. prison. >> Yeah, it's fair. It's fair. How is she. how does she spend her time? >> By the way, generally speaking, how is. someone's time in prison for crimes. related to children. >> in TDC? It's tough. Texas Department of. Corrections is tough. I mean, the. conditions it's not it's it's not.

clubfed. It's you're doing she's. probably going to be in a max security. um environment with a lot of other. people that are in a lot of trouble for. violent crimes and. that type of crime is is very frowned. upon and so I imagine that it's going to. be a rough 12 and a half years before. she even makes the parole board. >> Let's talk about the stepfather, Mr. Gonzalez. So he's scheduled to be. sentenced in November. He previously. entered. >> a not-uilty plea. What does that look.

like now that the codefendant has. admitted guilt, taken a deal? What is it. going to be for him? You think? >> Sure. >> Um, as as as it pertains to Gonzalez's. sentence, I think on these facts, we. should expect a similar punishment of 25. years. That being said, um, the not. guilty plea originally isn't going to. harm him. That's kind of far for the. course. Um, before you get all the. evidence, you're not going to ple guilty. to something until you see what the. state's facts are. So, I'm not certain.

of whether there's extraneous conduct or. whether they're prior criminal u there's. prior criminal history uh that Gonzalez. has. And if so, then this could open the. door for a lot more time. >> These I mentioned this before, whether. it's from a legal point of view, a. societal point of view, these prior. calls to the house, the school report, the welfare check, any of that factor. into these cases or what do you take. away from it? Because I feel like so. many times when we talk about child. abuse cases, [clears throat] that's a.

component of it. Like it's not there. You always look at what the past was. I think it's definitely relevant, especially when. in a trial proceeding that goes towards. the nature of the relationship, but it. also goes towards intent and motive in. this case. And so if the defense is. going to contest that they didn't commit. neglect and that wasn't their intention. to do that, well then the state can. oftent times pull up prior instances of. of conduct.

>> um to show not necessarily a pattern but. to use it to prove intent in the case. and sheep, right? And so I think it's. hugely important. I also think from a. punishment standpoint, um, if this was a. situation of we really meant to take. care of her and we didn't realize how. bad the situation was and then the jury. finds out that there's prior instances. of abuse against a child or other. children, that's going to be a problem. for defendant and juries are not going. to take very kindly to that. So when we. talk about the punishment range up to.

life, that's what's going to get you. into those higher punishment ranges, the. 45, 55, and 65 year punishment ranges. Anthony Oso, thanks for coming on. [music] Always appreciate. >> Thanks for having me, Jesse. Good to see. you. >> Good seeing you. And that's all we have. for you right now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much for joining. us. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you. next time.