Half-ton woman charged in 2-year-old’s death

EDINBURG - A La Joya woman estimated to weigh at least half a ton was charged with capital murder Wednesday in connection with the death of her 2-year-old nephew.

Investigators allege Mayra Lizbeth Rosales, 27, struck Eliseo Gonzalez Jr. at least two times, causing the head injuries that eventually killed him last week.

Their findings contradict earlier reports that the bedridden woman accidentally crushed the child under her own weight and raise troubling questions over how she will be prosecuted should her case go to trial.

"Whatever the county and court system has to do in reference to the death of this child, we'll do it," Hidalgo County District Attorney Rene Guerra said. "We can't let someone's physical disability stand in the way of justice."

Preliminary autopsy results released Monday showed Eliseo died from multiple skull fractures and bruises, which Rosales said were inflicted when she accidentally fell on him while trying to pick him up.

But on Wednesday, Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said those injuries were inconsistent with her version of events.

Comparing the child's head to an orange, the sheriff said if compressed from opposite sides, the fruit would be crushed. Eliseo's injuries, however, appeared to have been caused by blunt force trauma.

"Mayra is denying that she ever struck the child," he said. "But the investigation and autopsy show that this is clearly impossible."

Rosales also reportedly changed her story several times when talking to investigators and family members.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed in her case, she later told deputies Eliseo fell out of a chair and originally told the child's mother the toddler had gotten stuck under her bed.

Justice of the Peace Luis Garza formally charged Rosales in her bedroom Wednesday morning and immediately released her on a personal recognizance bond, which is normally granted only for minor criminal offenses.

Treviño said the unusual circumstances were warranted because Rosales - whose weight he estimated at 1,000 pounds or more - could not leave her bedroom.

"She won't even fit through the door of her room," he said. "We would have to remove the walls to even get her out of there."

Eliseo's mother, Jamie Lee Rosales, 20, was also charged Wednesday with injury to a child for allegedly leaving the toddler in his aunt's home without someone else there who was physically able to watch him.

"(She) caused serious bodily injury to Eliseo because she failed to provide the care, protection and control required by law as any parent would," Treviño said.

On March 18, Jamie Rosales allegedly dropped off Eliseo and two of his siblings at their aunt's home while she took a fourth child to a non-emergency dental appointment.

But she reportedly signed an agreement with Child Protective Services case workers nearly a year earlier promising not to leave the children alone in her sister's care, the sheriff said.

The state agency had previously investigated five allegations against the family of abuse or neglect over the past five years, but only found evidence to substantiate one of those claims.

As of Wednesday evening, Jamie Rosales remained in the Hidalgo County Jail on a $50,000 bond. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

Her three other children - a set of 1-year-old twins and a 5-year-old - were placed with a relative last week, according to a CPS spokesman.

Family members reached at Mayra Rosales' home on Wednesday afternoon said she did not wish to comment.

A conviction in her case could lead to the death sentence.
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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.