Parents are responsible for meeting their children’s basic needs and keeping them safe. Lamentably, moms and dads are sometimes the ones responsible for causing harm or even death. Recently, a mom was charged in her autistic teen’s death after her daughter was found “mummified” and “severely malnourished.”
In February 2025, Crystal Canales was arrested and charged following her daughter’s death. The body of Delilah Villegas, 19 – who was autistic and nonverbal – was discovered in her Balch Springs, Texas, home. The details of the condition of the body are seriously disturbing.
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In February, the mother called 911 about her unresponsive daughter.
On February 14, Canales called 911 at roughly 2:30 p.m., according to a Balch Springs Police Department press release, per CBS News. She reported that Delilah was unresponsive and not breathing. When first responders arrived, they were not prepared for what they saw.
After seeing the body, police did not do CPR.
In a news conference, Pedro Gonzalez, a public information officer with the police department, said officers did not perform CPR because of the “condition” and “position” of the body, KDFW reported. Officers described a “strong foul odor” in the home’s bedroom. There, the teenager was found in a “near-fetal position” on the floor, per People.
Delilah’s body was also ‘severely malnourished,’ but that wasn’t all.
Delilah appeared “severely malnourished” with “multiple bruises and contusions on her body,” Gonzalez explained. In fact, police officers thought she was much younger at first.
“Originally, when the officers arrived, they thought she was probably 13 and didn’t realize she was 19 years old,” he detailed, per KDFW.
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Her body was ‘skin-to-bone.’
Reportedly, Delilah had “large lacerations exposing decaying limbs, and even some of the bones from her shoulder, and on her arm, and her leg,” per People.
“It was, as described, skin-to-bone,” Gonzalez confirmed.
She appeared to be in a “mummified” state and had bedsores on her body. Furthermore, an outline on the floor “indicated she had been in the same position for a prolonged period,” People reported.
The mom has been charged after the death of her autistic daughter.
Canales reportedly told police her daughter “had been breathing before first responders arrived and claimed she had eaten a handful of Goldfish crackers earlier that day,” per People.
Medical examiners, however, estimated that the 19-year-old had been dead for six to 24 hours before police arrived.
On February 21, Canales was arrested and charged with a second-degree felony of serious bodily injury to a disabled person.
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child) or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.
