Willacy County Sheriff's investigator Danny Solis has arrested the parents of a teenaged girl from Lasara, who died on November 17 after an insulin pump was removed by a family member, believed to be her mother.

Amanda Coronado, 16, was a sophomore at Lasara High School and was diabetic. Sheriff Larry Spence said that an investigation into the girl's death has been going on for the past month. That investigation has focused on who removed the insulin pump, and why, the sheriff said.

Deputies investigated statements that the girl's mother reportedly made at Sunday mass. The Coronado family are members of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Lasara.

Sheriff Spence said that the autopsy performed at Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen revealed that the apparent cause of the girl's death was the removal of the insulin pump.

Elias Coronado, 44, and Maria de Jesus Coronado, 38, are the parents of the dead girl and both were arrested on Tues., afternoon. No bond has yet been set and the couple will appear before Pct. 3 Justice of the Peace Juan Silva today, where they will likely be charged with manslaughter, Spence said. The family lives at 5239 W. 6th St., in Lasara.

A number of people in the community say that Maria Coronado believed that if the pump was removed from the girl that she would be healed by God.

Sheriff Spence commented on the rumor.

"This is a sad situation. Sometimes God does heal but the best thing to do is to go to the doctor and let him check it out, not take things into our own hands. Because of these actions this young girl is not here anymore."

Willacy County and District Attorney Bernard Ammerman said that the Sheriff's Dept. will file the charges and the couple will be arraigned by the justice of the peace, before the case is referred to his office for prosecution.