Inset: Tracy Gonzales (Houston Police Department). Background: Home in Houston, Texas, where Tracy Gonzales allegedly starved her 16-year-old foster daughter to death (KTRK).
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.
Police say the girl had the math and reading level of a first grader. Investigators say she weighed 78 pounds. Local ABC affiliate KTRK, citing documents, reported Nayeli weighed some 40 pounds heavier in February 2022. KTRK also reported Gonzales was Nayeli’s foster mother.
Neighbor Frank Rodriguez told the outlet the victim went to school with his daughter but she stopped showing up about a year ago. Gonzales said Rodriguez always gave excuses as to why Nayeli kept missing class.
Prior to that, Rodriguez said nothing appeared to be amiss.
“She was just a normal girl,” he told the TV station.
Gonzales is at the Harris County Jail on a $200,000 bond. Her next court date is scheduled for Jan. 7.
