Janessa Martinez was hospitalized with severe injuries after authorities say days passed between the first alleged assault and emergency help.

SPRING, Texas — A 2-year-old girl who was spending part of the summer with her mother in the Houston area died after suffering severe injuries that authorities allege were inflicted by the mother’s boyfriend over several days, turning an injury-to-a-child investigation into a homicide review.

Janessa Martinez was taken for emergency treatment Aug. 6 after she became unresponsive, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and court records described by local news organizations. Her mother, 28-year-old Jazmin Cisneros, and Cisneros’ boyfriend, 29-year-old Gerardo Gonzalez, were arrested and charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury. Authorities said Gonzalez admitted striking Janessa, while prosecutors accused Cisneros of knowing about earlier abuse and failing to obtain medical care or report it. Janessa remained hospitalized for several days before dying the night of Aug. 12. Her death was announced publicly the following day.

The case began publicly on the evening of Aug. 6, when Cisneros and Gonzalez sought help for the unresponsive toddler near a gas station in Spring, north of Houston. Precinct 4 deputies were already in the area and began lifesaving measures before paramedics arrived. Janessa was initially transported to a hospital and later flown to another medical facility because of the severity of her condition. Investigators said medical personnel found injuries that included a fractured skull, a broken pelvis and damage to her liver. Authorities also reported extensive bruising and a black eye. The descriptions in court filings led investigators to question an initial account that the child had simply fallen in a bathtub.

Investigators later placed the beginning of the alleged violence several days earlier. According to an arrest affidavit reported by Law&Crime, Cisneros told investigators that on Aug. 1 she noticed something was wrong with Janessa’s right ear. She said the ear appeared lower than the other and was swollen. When she confronted Gonzalez, according to the affidavit, he admitted hitting the girl several times in the head. By the next morning, Cisneros said, the right side of the child’s face was extremely swollen and she had a black eye. Prosecutors said Cisneros nevertheless did not take Janessa for treatment or contact law enforcement at that point.

The reason for that delay became a central part of the case against Cisneros. Investigators wrote that she said she did not seek medical attention or call police because she knew Gonzalez would go to jail. Authorities have not alleged that Cisneros personally struck Janessa. Instead, the criminal case against her has focused on what prosecutors describe as a failure to protect the child and obtain care despite knowing about the injuries. At a later court hearing, prosecutors also said Cisneros had spoken with a detective about an earlier, unreported episode of alleged abuse in July, adding another allegation to the timeline being examined by investigators.

Gonzalez gave investigators a different account before authorities said he acknowledged striking the toddler. The original report was that Janessa had fallen in a bathtub and lost consciousness. After receiving Miranda warnings, however, Gonzalez admitted hitting the child in the head four times on Aug. 1, investigators said. Authorities further alleged that five days later he struck her in other areas of her body and stepped on her. Investigators connected those alleged actions with the serious internal and skeletal injuries discovered after she was hospitalized. The allegations remain subject to the criminal court process, and a conviction has not been reported.

By Aug. 6, according to the affidavit, the emergency had become impossible to conceal. Cisneros told investigators she had been asleep when Gonzalez awakened her in a panic and said Janessa was no longer breathing. The pair left the home and sought help. Deputies at the gas station began treating the child, and emergency medical workers eventually transferred her to a hospital equipped to handle the severe trauma. Doctors initially told investigators they did not expect her to survive. Janessa remained alive for several more days before dying, according to authorities. Her death shifted the focus of the investigation and prompted homicide detectives and prosecutors to review whether the charges should change.

Both adults were jailed as the investigation developed. Gonzalez was held on a $1 million bond on the serious-injury charge, while Cisneros’ bond was set at $500,000. During an early hearing for Gonzalez, Magistrate Judge Temple Ramming described the allegations as among the most troubling he had encountered during years of criminal-law work. At a later hearing involving Cisneros, District Judge Ana Martinez declined a defense request to reduce her bond. Court-imposed conditions described by FOX 26 included strict restrictions that would apply if Cisneros were released, including GPS monitoring, limits on travel, no contact with Gonzalez and restrictions on contact with children without court approval.

Cisneros’ defense raised another issue that had not appeared in the first accounts of the case. Her attorney, James Stafford, said family members claimed Gonzalez had threatened Cisneros and invoked supposed cartel connections to intimidate her. Those assertions came from the defense and had not been established as findings of fact. Prosecutors continued to argue that Cisneros had a legal duty to protect her daughter and seek treatment. The differing accounts are likely to become important as the court considers what Cisneros knew, what choices were available to her and whether the prosecution can prove the elements of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

The investigation also crossed state lines because Janessa and her older sibling normally had ties to Chicago. Cisneros told investigators that she had Janessa and a 7-year-old child for the summer and that their father lived in Chicago. Janessa’s father, Norman Martinez, traveled to Texas after learning of his daughter’s critical condition. Before her death, he created an online fundraiser in which he described Janessa as an independent child who loved to sing and dance. After she died, he spoke publicly about wanting to return her to Chicago for burial and said he wanted accountability for what had happened. Family members later gathered in Chicago to remember the girl.

The older child was initially placed in the custody of child protective authorities after the arrests and was later sent to live with family in Chicago, FOX 26 reported. The Texas child welfare system also opened an investigation. Authorities have not publicly alleged that the older child suffered the same injuries as Janessa. The sibling’s presence, however, became part of the broader inquiry into the household and the period during which the children were staying with Cisneros.

Janessa’s death also changed the potential criminal exposure in the case. Immediately afterward, Harris County homicide investigators and prosecutors said they were reviewing whether additional or more serious charges were appropriate. Some later media reporting said Gonzalez faced or could face a capital murder charge, while other reports continued to describe prosecutors as reviewing an upgrade. Publicly available reporting consulted for this story does not provide a sufficiently clear, consistent later court record to state that an upgraded charge had been finally resolved. Cisneros was still publicly described in the most detailed local court reporting as charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury by omission.

The criminal cases therefore remain centered on separate allegations: that Gonzalez directly inflicted the injuries and that Cisneros failed to protect Janessa or obtain prompt medical care after learning of abuse. Both defendants are entitled to the presumption of innocence unless and until proven guilty. Investigators have continued examining the circumstances of Janessa’s death, including the alleged July incident and the events between Aug. 1 and Aug. 6, while prosecutors determine the charges supported by the completed investigation.

Author note: Last updated September 22, 2026.