Waco: Malnourished toddler found in roach-infested home, grandmother arrested

A Waco woman has been charged with child endangerment after officers who responded to a request for a welfare check found a 2-year-old girl who weighed just 13 pounds in a roach-infested home.

Noemi Constancio, 43, whom police described as the grandmother and legal guardian of the toddler, was in the McLennan County Jail Wednesday.

Her bond has not been set.

She was arrested after officers went to her home at 1913 Live Oak Ave., in response to a report “there was a child that looked very thin and sickly at the home,” Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said Wednesday.

Officers found the 2-year-old, whose “arms were as thin as the bones in them, with no muscle mass,” Swanton said.

“She mumbles and uses a walker to move around,” he said.

“The house smelled like urine and the clutter made it difficult to move around. There were many animals in the home as well as the home being roach infested,” Swanton said.

The toddler and a 6-month-old girl who was also in the home were taken to a local hospital and Child Protective Services was contacted, Swanton said.

At the hospital, the 2-year-old was found to weigh just 13.1 pounds with her clothes on.

Her 6-month-old sister weighed more than 16 pounds, Swanton said.

“Doctors stated that 2-year-old has failure to thrive severe muscle wasting, severe physical delay, severe developmental delay, and severe mental delay,” Swanton said.

They estimated that it took about six months “for the child to get to his level of neglect,” Swanton said.

The girl was admitted to the hospital.