HOUSTON, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- A Houston mother has been charged in her 5-year-old daughter's death, police say.
The family of Candy Flores told police the girl died after falling off a toilet and hitting her head Tuesday night, the Houston Chronicle reported.
However, an examination of the girl's body found bruises and scratches from her head to the bottom of her feet, said Houston Police Department homicide investigator Kevin Carr.
"The way the initial injury was described was not consistent with the other injuries observed," Carr said.
On Wednesday, Rosa Gonzalez, 41, Candy's mother, was charged with felony injury to a child.
"Pending on evidence obtained from an autopsy, charges could be upgraded at some point," Carr said.
Carr said Candy, who lived in a one bedroom apartment with 10 other children and four adults, showed signs of abuse and neglect that investigators believe she endured for at least three years.
"This was targeted abuse," Carr said, adding that none of the other children in the apartment showed any signs of abuse.
"It would be unfair to say she didn't have a chance," he said. "She did. She had her family, but her family let her down."
