Her mother Denise Balbaneda and her stepfather Gerald Gonzalez did not seek medical help for the girl

A 12-year-old girl died in the US state of Texas after mysteriously suffering “life-threatening” injuries that her parents tried to treat with smoothies and vitamins, officials said.

Miranda Sipps died in a hospital on Monday after her parents called emergency services because she was unable to breathe, four days after she sustained the injuries. In a bizarre twist, her mother left the house with the girl in the car after the call as she did not want police officers in the house.

While fleeing the scene, her car was stopped by police near a highway and Miranda was found unconscious but alive in the vehicle. She was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead shortly after.

The investigation revealed that the mother Denise Balbaneda (36) and the stepfather Gerald Gonzalez (40) did not seek medical help for the girl during the four days in which the girl was “mentally and physically incapacitated and unresponsive”.

For four days, the couple kept their daughter at home, reportedly feeding her smoothies and vitamins even though she was unresponsive. They may have tried to give her oxygen to revive her, officials claimed.

“Basically, they thought they could nurse her back to health, and we don’t think they wanted the attention it would bring if the little girl was injured,” Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward told local media.

The parents told authorities that during the four days their daughter was only able to “blink her eyes and move her hands a little.”

It is not known how she sustained her serious injuries; an autopsy is currently being performed to determine the nature of her injuries.

Her mother and stepfather were arrested and charged with aggravated assault on a child.