SAN ANTONIO -- An 8-year-old girl from Gonzales was chained to a wall and was starved to death by her adoptive parents, according to the Gonzales sheriff.

"The child was emaciated and in really poor condition," Gonzales County Sheriff Glen Sachtleben said. "They chained her to a wall. They starved her."

Officers charged Chrystal Ramirez's uncle and aunt, Bettie and Steve Ramirez, with injury to a child after her body was found in their home.

Teresa Camarillo, Chrystal's biological mother, said Chrystal weighed less than 30 pounds when they found her body.

"They didn't want her to go to the bathroom and they put a diaper on her," Camarillo said. "She weighed 28 pounds when she died."

Camarillo lost custody of Chrystal and her other two children in 1999 because of her involvement with drugs.

Sachtleben wouldn't confirm details about the case, but he called it one of the worst Gonzales investigators have ever seen.

Officers said Chrystal's sister, who also lived with the Ramirezes, is suspected of also being malnourished.

Camarillo, who is not allowed to attend her daughter's funeral because she relinquished custody, said she would risk arrest to see Chrystal buried.