Memorial grows outside Balch Springs home where teen with autism found dead on Valentine's Day
A small memorial and a sense of sadness remain outside the Balch Springs home where Delilah Villegas, a 19-year-old with autism, was found dead on Valentine's Day.
Neighbor Denise Gomez, who knew the young woman, said she feels crushed over what happened.
"I'm pretty shocked because our neighborhood is kind of quiet right now, so having something like that that close to home is crazy," Gomez said.
Having lived in the neighborhood on Horseshoe Trail for years, Gomez said, "We never saw the girl come out. If you didn't live over here for a while, you would never know that she was there."
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police found a deadbolt and lock on the teen's bedroom door. The affidavit also reveals Villegas' grandmother claimed to not have seen her in several weeks and the teen's great uncle told police he hadn't seen her in a year — even though they all lived in the same home.
"I hope she can rest in peace because nobody deserves to be suffering like that," Gomez said.
CBS News Texas spoke to a woman who said her daughter went to school with Villegas. The woman said she often saw Villegas from 2014 to 2020 but hadn't seen her in nearly five years and assumed the family had moved.
On Friday, Balch Springs police arrested Crystal Canales, Villegas' mother, and took her to the Balch Springs Jail, where she is awaiting transfer to the Dallas County Jail.
What happened to Delilah Villegas?
On Feb. 14, around 2:33 p.m., Balch Springs police responded to a 911 call from Canales, who reported her daughter was having difficulty breathing.
When officers arrived, they detected a strong, foul odor from Villegas' bedroom and found her dead in a near-fetal position.
Medical personnel confirmed the absence of vital signs and determined that Villegas had been dead for at least six and possibly up to 24 hours.
However, Canales claimed Villegas was breathing before first responders arrived and had eaten a handful of Goldfish crackers earlier in the day.
The Criminal Investigations Divison responded to the scene and after closer examination, authorities discovered signs of severe malnutrition, multiple wounds and exposed bones on the victim's body.
Detectives concluded that Canales' failure to seek medical care for her daughter likely constituted reckless conduct, leading to serious bodily injury to a disabled person — a second-degree felony.
