GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — Updated at 5:21 p.m. with additional information.
A Grand Prairie woman is accused of lighting her stepchild's face on fire for yelling, police said Friday.
Dalia Jimenez, 20, faces a felony injury to a child charge in connection with the incident, police said.
On May 13, officers investigated a 911 call that the 5-year-old had been burned and needed to be taken to a hospital. The burning incident occurred two days earlier.
That call originated from a neighbor living in the same apartment complex as Jimenez and her stepchild.
When officers arrived, they discovered first- and second-degree burns to the child's face.
"There were burns on both sides of her cheeks, down below her jawline, and small burns on her shoulders as well," said Grand Prairie police Det. Greg Parker.
Jimenez originally told detectives that her stepdaughter's injuries were the result of an accident while lighting a candle on May 11, police said.
Child Protective Services removed the 5-year-old girl and a younger sibling from the home after police arrived.
Investigators interviewed the girl after she was treated at Children's Medical Center Dallas and Parkland Hospital. The child told detectives that Jimenez caused her injuries, Parker said during a news conference.
Investigators interviewed Jimenez and found inconsistencies in her story, Parker said.
She "ultimately confessed to detectives that she intentionally poured rubbing alcohol on the child's face and used a lighter to set the alcohol on fire," Grand Prairie police said in a written statement.
"She said she lit the child on fire to punish her for yelling," the statement said.
The child also told investigators she was beaten with a belt before the burning incident, Parker said.
The girl's biological father was not present at the time, but, Parker said, the father didn't request medical help despite knowing about the child's injuries.
Parker said the father didn't act because he believed what Jimenez told the police.
The girl and her sibling are now safe with family, police said.
Jimenez has since bonded out of jail.
CPS and Grand Prairie Police did investigate Jimenez and the father of the child in 2018 when the girl had a broken arm. But that investigation determined the parents were not at fault, officials said.
Jimenez had raised the girl since she was a baby, Parker said.
