Mother sentenced to probation in child's death case

HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A Harlingen mother was sentenced to probation after her 2-year-old daughter died in 2017.

Samantha Gonzalez was sentenced to 10 years of probation Tuesday after she pleaded no contest to a charge of injury to a child by omission, records show.

_{Samantha Gonzalez and Jorge Abundez (source: Cameron County Sheriff's Department)}

Gonzalez was initially arrested, along with Jorge Michael Abundez, in the death of her 2-year-old daughter Katalina Castaneda in 2017. Gonzalez was first charged with criminal negligent homicide before her charges were upgraded to capital murder.

Background

On April 19, 2017, Harlingen police were dispatched to the 1800 block of S. 3rd Street for an unresponsive child. When EMS arrived, they treated and transported Castaneda to Valley Baptist Medical Center. The child died the same day.

According to family members, the child had fallen down a flight of stairs and unbecame unresponsive. An autopsy revealed that the child sustained "blunt force abdominal trauma," police said.

Phone records show that Gonzalez called her mother-in-law after the incident and waited for her for 16 minutes before calling 911, a criminal complaint stated.

_{A two-year-old died Wednesday evening after she was reported to have fallen down the stairs, according to Harlingen police. (Photo courtesy of Issac Isaiah Falcon)}

In 2017, ValleyCentral reported the following:

An autopsy conducted on April 20, [2017] revealed that injuries sustained prior to Castaneda’s alleged fall contributed to her death, according to the criminal complaint. A local doctor stated in the autopsy that Castaneda’s injuries were not caused by a fall from the stairs, and “that the only way Katalina could suffer such an injury was if Katalina was ‘punched, kicked, squeezed or stomped with great force to the abdomen,” according to the criminal complaint. The criminal complaint also stated that a bald spot was found on Castaneda’s head that doctors believe came from “someone pulling her hair repeatedly.”

On April 25, doctors reported to police that “a ruptured liver and ruptured kidney had happened hours before the fall was reported,” according to the criminal complaint.

Gonzalez turned herself in to police weeks later after a warrant was issued for her arrest on a charge of criminal negligent homicide.

On January 29, 2018, police received the final autopsy report which helped identify Abundez as the person responsible for the child's death, police said. Five months later, Abundez was arrested after he was found hiding under a bed in his home on 3rd street. Police added that Abundez was also a registered sex offender.

Sentencing

Both Abundez and Gonzalez were indicted on charges of capital murder in Castaneda's death.

On Aug. 14, 2023, the capital murder case against Gonzalez was dismissed and she was instead charged with injury to a child, reckless serious bodily injury. That same day, Gonzalez pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of injury to a child by omission.

As part of a plea deal, she agreed to testify truthfully in the case against Abundez and would receive 10 years of probation.

On Oct. 31, Abundez was sentenced to 60 years in prison on a charge of injury to a child, with the jury declaring a mistrial on the charge of capital murder.

Prior to Gonzalez's sentencing, several people, including a Hidalgo County deputy and a Mercedes pastor submitted letters to Judge Ricardo Adobbati describing what kind of person Gonzalez is.

_{Samantha Lee Gonzalez, 27, was charged with criminal negligent homicide after her two-year-old daughter, Katalina Desiree Castaneda, allegedly fell down the stairs. (Photo courtesy of the Harlingen Police Department)}

"Samantha treats all people she interacts with, no matter the age, lovingly and with respect," the pastor said. "Samantha is a family oriented person who has always presented herself to be level-headed and a person of grace."

The deputy echoed the pastor's sentiments, adding that Gonzalez deserves the opportunity to reunite with her other children.

A friend added that Gonzalez went through "a lot of mental and physical abuse" from Abundez, and that her only fault was not being there the moment the crime was committed.

As part of Gonzalez's sentence, she will spend 50 weekends in jail. Additionally, if she violates the terms of her probation she will spend the 10 years in prison, officials told ValleyCentral.