July 16, 2025
A mother accused of confining her daughter in a closet for extended periods testified at a court hearing Tuesday, after which a judge granted a motion from the Travis County District Attorney’s Office to increase her bond.
As of Wednesday morning, Virginia Gonzales faced two first-degree felony counts of injury to a child inflicting serious injury, one third-degree felony count of injury to a child, and one third-degree felony count of unlawful restraint.
*****
Lingering in this case’s shadow is another — the disappearance of Ava Marie Gonzales, 9, one of Gonzales’ children. She was last seen as an infant in 2017, according to the Austin Police Department.
Prosecutors called APD Missing Persons & Cold Cases detective Amanda Lewis to testify on Ava’s case. According to her, relatives last saw Ava in December 2017. The last known photo of Ava was taken around that time.
Ava lived with her relatives at the time, Lewis said, but Gonzales brought her back to a hotel room. That room was where Gonzales briefly lived with her kids. Lewis related what Gonzales’ oldest child, now 15, told detectives he remembered about that time.
“How do I phrase this?” said Lewis, pausing for a moment. “[Gonzales] was last seen handling the child very violently in a bathtub, then put her in a car seat.”
*****
Lewis also testified during the prosecution’s examination that her investigation was “leading us towards a murder case.” On cross-examination, Hernandez and Lewis engaged in a brief back-and-forth on that statement.
“Do you have any evidence the child is dead?” Hernandez asked.
“We don’t have any evidence that she is alive,” Lewis said. Hernandez responded that that wasn’t his question.
“We are investigating it as a homicide investigation,” Lewis responded. APD has not charged, nor has a grand jury indicted, Gonzales with homicide.
Later in the hearing, Gonzales testified that she did not kill her daughter.
*****
Early in his questioning of Virginia Gonzales, Hernandez asked her to tell the court how many children she’s had: Nine kids from at least six men. At the time of Virginia Gonzales’ arrest, Ava had been missing and another daughter was given up for adoption.
*****
See the article for a lot more -- it is a lengthy article.
