Haltom City grandmother indicted in burn death of 2-year-old grandson

A Tarrant County grand jury indicted a Haltom City grandmother Friday in connection with the death of her 2-year-old grandson.

After Lyfe “Gabe” Flores was burned, police say, six days passed before Patricia Annette Flores, 43, called 911. When she did, on March 30, she told the call taker that her grandson appeared to be going into shock and was having trouble breathing.

Lyfe, 2, died April 4 at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

After police made a public appeal to locate Flores, she surrendered to deputies in Frio County on a warrant accusing her of injury to a child. She was freed from jail after posting a $75,000 bond.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, paramedics arrived at the home in the 2100 block of Haltom Road to find Lyfe breathing but unresponsive with severe burns on his feet, hands, buttocks and genitals.

Questioned by a Haltom City officer, Flores said she had been preparing to do cleaning in the home six days earlier and had run hot water in the bathtub for mopping purposes.

She told the officer that she left the bathroom for a few minutes, returning to find her grandson lying on the floor.

“She had checked on Lyfe earlier and thought he was asleep, “ the affidavit states. “Lyfe had pooped and peed on the bathroom floor and as Flores began to clean this up, she noticed that Lyfe had burns to his legs and hands.”

Flores told investigators that her grandson never yelled out or screamed in pain.

“Flores felt that since she was a trained certified nursing assistant, she could care for Lyfe’s injuries herself and never reported this incident, or sought medical care for Lyfe from a doctor, “ the affidavit states.

Flores was interviewed again at Cook Children’s Medical Center by Cpl. T. Miller.

Police have said they believe that the lack of medical treatment for the severe burns led to an infection, which may have contributed to Lyfe’s death.

In the affidavit, Miller wrote that he believed that Flores caused the burns to her grandson and then did not get him required treatment, eventually leading to the boy’s death.

Lyfe’s 5-month-old sister was placed in foster care after her brother died. A Child Protective Services spokeswoman has said the agency had contact with Lyfe and his family before his death but could provide no details.

This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published October 1, 2016 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Haltom City grandmother indicted in burn death of 2-year-old grandson."