Foster mom worried about losing her own children cashed girl’s disability checks as ailing teen wasted away wearing only a diaper: Police

A Texas woman is behind bars after the 16-year-old girl with disabilities she was caring for died weighing just 78 pounds.

Tracy Gonzales, 48, is charged with injury to a disabled person with serious bodily injury. Houston police began investigating around 7:45 p.m. March 25 after receiving a call about a deceased person in the 700 block of East 32nd Street on the city’s north side. When they arrived, they found the girl, Nayeli Perez, dead in her bedroom suffering from “unknown injuries.” An autopsy determined her death was a homicide.

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Over the ensuing months, investigators pieced together Nayeli’s tragic demise. Gonzales was granted custody over the girl at some point — police and publicly available court documents don’t say when — and the defendant began receiving disability checks meant for Nayeli’s care. But Gonzales allegedly failed to contact authorities about Nayeli’s declining health. Cops say Gonzales was afraid of losing her own kids. She reportedly admitted to disciplining the victim with a belt.

“Defendant stated she would close her eyes and didn’t know where she struck [Nayeli],” the affidavit said.

Gonzales allegedly said she would hit Nayeli because of the victim’s “inability to use [the] bathroom and eat food,” cops wrote. When cops found her dead, she was only wearing a diaper as all her clothes were soiled, per the affidavit. She also suffered stab wounds to her genitals, malnutrition and dehydration, according to police. Gonzales claimed she was gone all day and returned home to find the victim a “little hard,” cops wrote.