Bronwyn Blake

The mother accused of locking her young daughter in a closet for weeks initially refused a plea deal.

but now one has been reached.

33-year-old Virginia Gonzalez pleaded guilty to two charges of felony child injury.

She receives a 25-year sentence on each count, which she will serve at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice facility in Huntsville.

The counts will serve concurrently.

Let me jog your memory about what happened.

Austin Police Department still looking for another of Gonzalez's daughters, Ava, who hasn't been seen since December 2017.

She was then around two years old.

Gonzalez's son, the firstborn of her eight children, told investigators that Ava was given away to a family when she was about three.

November 2023 Child Protective Services records state Ava Gonzalez moved in with her father.

The document allegedly signed by the grandmother of one of the Gonzalez children.

When questioned about the document, the grandmother said the phone number on the CPS report was not hers, nor was it her signature.

The Austin Police Department was able to track down Virginia Gonzalez's previous boyfriend and father of one of her children.

He says Gonzalez claimed Ava was her sister's child and she was caring for her.

She also said Ava was living in San Antonio with an aunt and uncle.

The ex-boyfriend said Gonzalez referred to Ava as a crack baby, meaning a premature baby who was sickly, having health problems and looked malnourished.

Hospital records confirmed Ava was born to Virginia at 39 and a half weeks, weighing six pounds with no complications.

After Gonzalez's arrest, she told police Ava was living in Mexico with her father.

When contacted, Ava's father in Mexico declined ever having custody of the girl.

He said he hadn't seen Ava since she was about one.