The girl’s mother and boyfriend were captured after a multi-state manhunt in Georgia.
The girl’s mother, Candice Diaz, and her boyfriend, Brad Fields, were charged with felony murder, second-degree murder, first-degree child abuse, and torture.
“Both ... have severe mental illnesses for which they admit they are not treating,” a court document reads, the report said.
Diaz, 24, said that she has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Fields, 28, added that he was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, social anxiety, agoraphobia, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Now, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services are trying to remove the sister of the slain girl from the home due to “improper supervision and physical abuse resulting in a child death,” according to the USA Today report.
Records show that the 4-year-old, Gabrielle Barrett, suffered severe burns. Her death was later ruled a homicide.
The report said that Diaz claimed the girl ran her own bath water, leading to the burns, but she didn’t seek medical care for the girl.
“The mother claimed she ran Gabrielle’s bath and placed Gabrielle into the tub after she filled the tub halfway,” a petition said. “The mother then claimed she left Gabrielle alone in the tub and went to the kitchen to make pancakes.”
When Diaz returned to the bathtub, she found the girl submerged in water to her nose. “The mother said she called Brad ... to the bathroom for help,” the document said. “According to the mother, Gabrielle continued to vomit, and Fields attempted to provide CPR.”
There were more “problems” with the girl at 10:05 a.m., the mother told a Sumpter Township police detective. Police were not called until about 36 minutes later.
Police found cocaine in the home when they searched it, the petition said.
The father of the girl, Kyle Barrett, said he had no knowledge of what happened at the household. He doesn’t face charges in the child’s death, adding that he last saw the girl in September before turning himself in to police on unrelated charges after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
“I got to give her a kiss and a hug and say I loved her,” he said. He got out of jail on Jan. 3.