Texas Couple Charged in Death of 8-year-old That Weighed 29 Pounds

An average 7-year-old child weighs 50 pounds. This child weighed less than 4 gallons of water, and was 8 years old. Her twin sister who survived weighed even less than she did.

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In a sickening case of child abuse, a Houston, Texas couple has been charged with capital murder, 17 months after the death of a malnourished 8-year-old girl with multiple injuries. The child only weighed 29 pounds when she died, according to KWTX.

Horrifying Abuse and Starvation

Soledad Mendoza and Ruben Moreno were charged for their role in the girl's death after a lengthy investigation. Mendoza is the child's mother and Moreno is her boyfriend.

The girl died in December 2020 at Houston's Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center. Her surviving twin who was treated at the same hospital weighed less than her sister at just 26 pounds, and had multiple injuries as well.

According to KRPC in Houston, the couple is accused of withholding food from the girls and repeated abuse that caused bruises and broken bones.

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services

In a child fatality report, DFPS investigators discovered bruises on the girl's legs and noted that her twin sibling could barely walk.

The 8 year old surviving twin disclosed she and the deceased child were locked in a closet all day with no food, placed in a trash bag, thrown on the floor and kicked on the wall by her mother. She also reported being hit with a belt and a shoe everywhere on her body by the paramour after getting food to eat in the home. The Department found that the deceased child and surviving twin sibling were in the care of mother and her paramour when they received multiple injuries, were not properly fed, and did not receive medical care.

- DFPS report (KRPC)