Mother Arrested For Starving 6-Year-Old Girl To Death; Child Weighed Only 31 Pounds

San Antonio, Texas -- A Texas mother is accused of starving her 6-year-old daughter to death about a week before her seventh birthday.

Stephanie Jimenez, 39, was arrested Wednesday and charged with injury to a child by omission.

The deceased child, Samantha Jimenez, lived with her mother and five siblings in east San Antonio and died in October 2021. Despite nearly turning 7 years old, Jimenez only weighed 31 pounds at the time of her death, according to News 4 San Antonio.

Investigators said Stephanie had called 911 and said Samantha had hit her head and was throwing up. Paramedics arrived to find Stephanie unresponsive and pronounced her dead at the scene.

Responding officers noticed that the victim was "small and thin for her age” while the mother and the remaining children seemed to be in good health.

Samantha tested positive for Covid-19 and suffered from kidney failure as well as pneumonia, an affidavit said. Her hair had a severe lice infestation, and she was found to have a “buildup of dead skin residue due to lack of hygiene,” the affidavit said.

While speaking to investigators, Stephanie said she would “lock herself in her bedroom and let her six children do whatever they wanted to do,” according to the arrest report.

The mother also said she couldn’t take Samantha to the hospital because she had “no help” and said the malnourished child had not received any medical attention for a couple of years before her death.

"I feel bad. I feel horrible, knowing I could have done something,” neighbor Jeremy Bernal, who lives close to the victim’s house, told KENS 5. “Something could have been done, just knowing it's only a few houses away. I know what it's like to have kids and I love my kids and I would go to the end of the world for my kids."

The father-of-three said he finds it hard to accept how the child suffered neglect to the point of death.

"It's just horrible that she had to go something like that, experience so much trauma. Stress. Anxiety. Worrying. Trying to keep faith and hope. It's a very horrific story. Very unfortunate," Bernal added.

"I hope that the world knows her name, at least, that people could pray for her. That's her name, Samantha. I will pray for Samantha," Bernal went on to say. "I will hug my kids tighter and hold them closer to my heart."

The remaining five children in Stephanie’s house have been in state care since Samantha’s death, according to a spokesman for Child Protective Services.

Stephanie is being held in custody and her bail was set at $200,000.