Texas Mother Allegedly Kept Malnourished 7-Year-Old Locked in Closet

A Texas mother is facing serious criminal charges after her seven-year-old daughter was discovered severely malnourished and locked inside a closet. Virginia Gonzales, 33, appeared in court this week, denying she ordered her daughter to be confined to the closet but admitted, “I know what I’ve done was wrong.”

The child, who weighed just 29 pounds at the time she was found, had been locked in a closet in an Austin home, according to authorities. Discovered by her grandmother in April, the girl had reportedly been deprived of food and water for an extended period. She was said to be given only one corn dog a day and a half a cup of water, according to testimony from her 10-year-old brother, one of her six siblings.

“The fat in her cheeks was nonexistent,” Austin Police Department detective Ryan Constable testified. “Her body had used those stores to sustain itself.” The child is believed to have suffered permanent brain damage due to extreme starvation. Gonzales is charged with three counts of injury to a child, one count of unlawful restraint, and causing serious bodily injury.

According to ABC affiliate KVUE, she pleaded not guilty and is set to go to trial in January 2026. In court, Gonzales attempted to explain her actions, saying she had instructed her sons “not to let her out of the [bed]room but not the closet.” She claimed the child had behavioral issues and said, “We’d catch her in the restroom doing something bad. It was easier for [my sons] to watch her that way.”

The Travis County District Attorney’s Office successfully requested that Gonzales’s bond be raised from $75,000 to $250,000, citing concerns about flight risk. Valerie Gonzales, the defendant’s mother, supported the motion and testified that her daughter had a history of missing court dates. “She didn’t show up for a weed charge, you think she’s going to show up for this?” she asked. “I know my daughter, she’ll run from this.”

Despite the horrific details, Gonzales claimed she never physically harmed her children and stated, “I’m ready to do whatever I need to keep my children… I want to fight for the kids.” The case has shocked the Austin community and is expected to be closely followed when it goes to trial early next year.

READ NEXT

Related Stories

Minnesota Teachers Dead in Suspected Murder-Suicide, Leaving Two Young Children Without a Mother

North Carolina Man Allegedly Found at Home Surrounded by “Containers” Holding His Wife’s Body Parts

Minnesota Mother Kills Wheelchair-Bound Son by Putting Crushed Anti-Anxiety Pills in His Feeding