Dona Ana Sheriff’s deputies arrest mother in child abuse case

The mother of a four-year-old girl who was injured while she was in the care of her mother’s girlfriend has also been arrested in connection with the child’s injuries, Dona Ana County Sheriff’s officials said.

Maria Gurrola-Nevarez, 23, was taken into custody June 27 and has been charged with one count of child abuse and one count of child abuse resulting in great bodily harm.

At the time of her arrest, Gurrola-Nevarez also had an outstanding warrant for failure to pay fines.

On June 17, Doa Ana County Sheriff’s investigators responded to a Las Cruces hospital after hospital staff alerted them to the child’s injuries, which staff told investigators they found to be inconsistent with a statement given by Gurrola-Nevarez’s girlfriend, Yvette Pion-Carbajal.

Pion-Carbajal was reportedly caring for the child while Gurrola-Nevarez was at work, and claims the child fell in the bathtub and then reportedly slept most of the day.

The two women took the child to the hospital after she reportedly suffered a seizure.

Sheriff’s investigators said the statement Pion-Carbajal told investigators was not consistent with the injuries the child sustained, which left her in a medically-induced coma.

The child was transported to an El Paso-area hospital, where she remains in critical condition.

Pion-Carbajal was arrested on June 18, charged with one count of child abuse and one count of child abuse resulting in great bodily harm. She’s being held at the Doa Ana County Detention Center on a $250,000 secured bond.

Gurrola-Nevarez was also booked at the Doa Ana County Detention Center. She is being held on a $150,000 secured bond