Police: Houston women duct-taped 6-year-old boy's eyes shut

1-year-old girl also suffered burns, police say

HOUSTON – Four people were arrested Monday after police said the eyes of a 6-year-old boy were taped shut and a 1-year-old girl was found to have suffered burns.

According to Houston police, a maintenance worker, who was checking on a leaky air-conditioning unit at an apartment complex in the 5800 block of Dashwood Drive, noticed duct tape over the eyes and around the hands of the boy. He called the apartment manager, who called police.

When officers arrived, they found the girl who had suffered burns to her hands.

Investigators said that when they interviewed the four women who lived at the home with the children, they found that Estephanie Garcia and Emely Zuniga were responsible for duct-taping the boy. Garcia and Zuniga told investigators that they used the tape to control the boy, who had been fighting at school.

Garcia, Zuniga and the other two women who live at the home – identified as Lauara Garcia-Reyes and Maria Ruiz, the boy’s mother – were charged with endangering a child. Police said Garcia-Reyes and Ruiz were charged because they failed to help the boy.

The girl is Garcia’s daughter, police said. Investigators are still trying to determine how the child was burned. She was also charged with endangering a child in connection with her daughter’s injuries.

The boy and his two siblings were placed into foster care, according to a spokesman for Child Protective Services.

The CPS spokesman also said the girl and her sibling have been placed in the custody of their father.