Haltom City grandmother surrenders in Frio County

The 911 call is frightening: Grandmother Patricia Flores tells a Haltom City dispatcher she has a 2-year-old who appears to be going into shock, that he is having trouble breathing.

In the 36-second call, Flores also tells the dispatcher her grandson is “heaving,” his eyes “rolling back.”

Haltom City police released portions of the call Thursday after Flores surrendered to deputies in Frio County, southwest of San Antonio. She is accused in the scalding death of her grandson, Lyfe “Gabe” Flores.

Flores, 43, was in the Frio County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bail from a Haltom City warrant. A bondsman accompanied Flores into the county sheriff’s office in Pearsall on Thursday morning and she was arrested without incident.

Authorities have 10 days to return Flores to Tarrant County, said Sgt. Jerry Reyna with the Frio County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday. She faces a charge of injury to a child serious bodily injury/omission.

The boy died April 4 at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

“We are so ecstatic to hear that Patricia Flores is in custody although it doesn’t bring our sweet Gabe back,” says a statement released Thursday by the boy’s family. “We are hopeful that our judicial system does not fail Gabe and that he gets the justice he deserves.”

An arrest warrant was issued April 7 for Flores, who was Lyfe’s legal guardian, but police had been unable to locate her over the past few days.

The child’s other grandmother, Kim Hamilton of Cleburne, has said Patricia Flores had been caring for Lyfe for about six weeks in Haltom City.

Wednesday, Haltom City police appealed for help, and released her photograph, noting that she could be in the San Antonio area.

Lack of medical treatment

Haltom City police said they believe Lyfe was scalded in bath water March 24 and wasn’t taken to get medical help for six days.

His grandmother waited until he became unresponsive on March 30, Haltom City Detective Matt Spillane said in a Wednesday news release. Flores called 911 late on the night of March 30.

“The lack of medical treatment for the severe burns led to an infection, which may have contributed to his death,” Spillane said.

At about 11:40 p.m. March 30, Haltom City police and paramedics responded to an injury to a child call in the 2100 block of Haltom Road.

The toddler was taken to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, and then moved to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. Haltom City police have said the boy was “obviously injured.”

No ruling has been issued by the Dallas County medical examiner’s office, but authorities said they believe he died as a result of scalding.

Child Protective Services received a report on the death and the toddler’s sibling, a 5-month-old girl, was placed in foster care. Marissa Gonzales of CPS has said the agency had contact with the child and his family before his death, but she provided no details.

Hamilton said Wednesday that she last saw her grandson on his birthday, March 1.

“We tried three to four times the rest of that month trying to see him, but she always had excuses,” Hamilton said.

This report contains information from Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 1:05 PM with the headline "Haltom City grandmother surrenders in Frio County."