A 5-month-old Texas girl who was brain-dead after being viciously abused during a “horrific weekend” has died, and her parents are now facing criminal charges, according to authorities.
The infant girl, identified only as Ja’nae, was brought to a nearby hospital on September 29 with several rib fractures and a brain bleed, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez’s post on X (previously Twitter) and Facebook.
“After having a horrendous weekend beginning on September 26/24, where she was alleged to be throwing up, partially paralyzed, vomiting blood, etc. “She wasn’t taken to the emergency room until Sunday,” Gonzalez stated.
The baby appears to have both old and fresh fractures, he wrote. Gonzalez described the incident as “sad and disturbing,” writing, “Her prognosis was grim” when she arrived at the hospital.
Ja’nae, who had “no brain function,” Gonzalez said, died from her injuries on Wednesday, October 2. Her parents, Glenn Wayne Smith, 25, and Jasmine Ellison, 23, of Houston, were arrested and charged with child injury and serious bodily injury.
In court, prosecutors described how the two allegedly delayed contacting 911 for help for their daughter.
“The abuse is said to have taken place over four days, or the most recent abuse, in which the child was under the care of both this defendant and the child’s father,” prosecutors stated, according to local station ABC 13.
“The child was found with multiple serious injuries including swelling and bleeding of the brain, no brain activity at the time of admission, blood coming out of her mouth, broken ribs, healed broken ribs,” according to what prosecutors told the court, ABC 13 reports.
Prosecutors claimed, “Medical staff said the injuries were likely caused by aggressively shaking the child,” according to PEOPLE.
Smith and Ellison remain in the Harris County Jail.
Smith’s bond was initially set at $1 million but was later reduced to $250,000, according to ABC 13.
Ellison’s bond amount was set at $150,000.
Their lawyers did not immediately reply to demands for comment.