Tina Madrid Charged In Death Of Malnourished Son: Jonathan Singer, 10, Found In Cardboard Box

Tina Madrid has been charged with serious bodily injury to a child in the death of her 10-year-old son, Jonathan Singer, who had cerebral palsy.

TEXAS CITY, Texas -- A Houston-area woman has been charged in the death of her 10-year-old son whose body was found in a cardboard box a year ago.

Jonathan had cerebral palsy and could not care for himself. Authorities said he was neglected and weighed only about 35 to 40 pounds.

Prosecutors said Jonathan's father, Jeffrey Singer, 46, left the boy alone in a bathtub while he went shopping. The boy drowned. His body was discovered last April in a box in the back of Singer's truck in Spring Branch, an area of west Houston.

Singer was charged with serious bodily injury to a child and is free on $50,000 bond, according to Harris County court records.

It wasn't immediately clear what part prosecutors believe Madrid played in the death. Online jail records do not list an attorney for Madrid, who was jailed and held under bond set at $50,000.

Police in Pasadena, another Houston suburb, visited Madrid's apartment in April 2011 after a call from a relative concerned for Jonathan's welfare. Officers were told the boy was fine and with his father, although they were not able to find either of them, police spokesman Vance Mitchell said

The next day officers were summoned to the west Houston home of Jeffrey Singer's father where Singer had parked his truck, where they found the child's body in the truck.

Police said Singer made statements about being responsible for the boy's death, and they arrested him. The child had been dead about five days when his body was found.

Child Protective Services had investigated the boy's welfare in 2010 and found no evidence of abuse or neglect. Child welfare officials doing a second check later were unable to find the family.Copyright 2011 The Galveston County Daily News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Comments

[Krista Gulledge]

07:58 PM on 04/16/2012

The grandfather of the little boy is a productive well off member of society. I don't see how this went along the way it did without someone DOING something about the welfare of this poor little boy. I believe turning a blind eye is something that should never be done by a family member.

[Wayneelvis]

09:33 PM on 04/13/2012

When are we going to wake up. What do you do with a rabid dog....

[scrapper7]

05:01 PM on 04/13/2012

Tina Madrid and Ohio resident, Angela Norman have a lot in common. They both had children with cerebral palsy and both starved their children to death. If ever there was an outcry for the death penalty, here are two prime candidates. Too bad they're in different states, though. It would be poetic justice if we could put them on adjourning gurneys!

[Smitty2000]

12:53 PM on 04/09/2012

You'd have to be really desperate to mate with that lady.

[Anthony N Suzie]

10:42 AM on 04/18/2012

I had to read the story to see if she was a woman or man!

[joeyhas]

08:24 AM on 04/09/2012

it used to be that we were more able to trust parents and people older than us. Nowdays? Phhhht ... who's worse: teens on drugs and causing problems, or adults who should know better by a certain age?

[ethelmertzrules]

11:35 AM on 04/08/2012

That girl's not right.

[wpnwilo2]

04:06 PM on 04/07/2012

It does take a village to raise a child. This village failed.

[TheDude249]

01:42 PM on 04/07/2012

I have a question I would like to ask. Why do people who are responsible for such crimes always look goofy? There are two other articles identical to this one and both persons have a strange phenotype. Bad genes? There must be a relationship between criminals and bad genes.

[Tamlee]

03:45 PM on 04/07/2012

I'd say she has done way to many drugs!

[wpnwilo2]

04:04 PM on 04/07/2012

Guess it depends on how a society defines "bad" and "criminals". There is a definite Nature AND Nurture side.

[Rissa64]

01:35 PM on 04/07/2012

Sometimes when I think the death penalty is an seriously flawed punishment and forced sterilization is what fascist/communist nations practice, along comes a story like this. Those remnants of humanity had no business reproducing let alone taking care of a special needs child. How they had custody of this child for 10 years... unbelievable.

[Richcrafter]

12:19 PM on 04/07/2012

Not sure she is human. But her son sure was. God bless him. God save her. But I doubt it. God does not need the burden of this "devil"!

[joeyhas]

08:26 AM on 04/09/2012

ugh, why do people always want to leave things up to this 'god' thing instead of stepping in and helping their fellow man?

[Doodlebunny65]

12:14 PM on 04/07/2012

Why does everyone kill their child with cerebral palsy?

[novabird]

09:47 AM on 04/08/2012

It is an unspeakable tragedy. There are so many stories of parents killing their own children who have cerebral palsy. Sometimes the toll of being a caregiver to a severely disabled child breaks parents. We need to provide much better care and support for caregivers who are responsible for severely disabled children.

[Deborah Vaughan]

08:20 AM on 04/07/2012

If those two parents were a horse they would have to shoot them....hey ! It's still not a bad idea !

I dont understand why this kid was not being watched by DHS ?? No one who is on drugs should have the right to keep their kids...If they can't make reasonable choices for themselves it should be a given they can't do the same for another human being...as a matter of fact , I don't even think they should be allowed to own a dog.
If you think I'm wrong then you should be willing to let a drug addict care for your kids or grandkids...probably not, right???

STOP THE PITY POT FOR POOR OL' DRUGGIES WHO CAN'T HELP THEMSELVES( YEA RIGHT)
2 more junkies murderers we have to foot the bill for in the big house...

[lizp33558]

03:46 AM on 04/07/2012

if the father left him in the tub , where was the mother?

[baldbiker2]

12:05 AM on 04/08/2012

Doing meth in the living room and watching tv waiting for the welfare check to arrive in the mail.

[lizp33558]

03:07 AM on 04/08/2012

i admit she looks prety bad, maybe its the meth you mentioned.

[hazyafternoonsunshine]

01:33 AM on 04/07/2012

Pity the children of meth.

[swordnose]

12:58 AM on 04/07/2012

Just having to live with that creacher is abuse all by itself. JeeBus, Mary, Joseph!