A Texas mother allegedly faked a cancer diagnosis for her daughter and got her addicted on ketamine in a sickening years-long campaign of abuse.
Denise Zamora was taken into custody this week accused of abusing her daughter, 15, whose name is not known, for over six years.
Investigators told NBC5 that Zamora also faked her own cancer diagnosis and said they are investigating claims she committed upwards of $1 million in Medicaid fraud.
Officials are urging anyone who donated to the mother’s online appeals to come forward for information, claiming Zamora kept the alleged scam running for years.
They said Zamora’s daughter was deaf and non-verbal, and her mother would answer for her at medical visits.
Tarrant County investigators alleged that Zamora put her daughter through pain treatments involving ketamine and other drugs.
It is claimed these ‘treatments’ led her daughter to become addicted to ketamine, as experts described the episode appearing to be a tragic case of Factitious Disorder, previously called Munchausen Syndrome.
Zamora is now facing a slew of felonies including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, serious bodily injury to a child, and endangering a child.
Denise Zamora, pictured, is accused of faking her disabled daughter’s cancer diagnosis for cash and attention
Following Zamora’s first court appearance this week, police sources claimed Zamora told friends and neighbors that she was also suffering from cancer and going through chemotherapy, reports NBC5.
She allegedly went as far as shaving her own head to convince others of her condition, and constructed a swanky new Texas home in 2020 for $300,000.
Zamora’s arrest warrant details 20 pages of allegedly false claims she made to health experts, including faking headaches, nausea, stomach pains, heavy menstrual bleeding, seizures, and spinal issues beginning in 2018, reports Fox4.
The allegedly unnecessary treatments led Zamora’s daughter to end up using a wheelchair and having a feeding tube inserted, despite being able to walk and eat normally.
Her daughter went for at least seven ER visits and 12 hospital admissions, and was prescribed 19 different medications for 44 diagnoses, investigators said.
Medical professionals reportedly became suspicious of Zamora as she would speak for her daughter, and she was placed under video surveillance while they were in a hospital room together.
According to her affidavit, Zamora was ‘caught on covert video surveillance taking a syringe from the vanity and using the syringe to insert what appeared to be a clear unknown liquid into the victim’s feeding bag.’
She then ‘took the feeding bag down and pouring some of the contents into a cup…. then presented it to the nurse that the victim had thrown up’, the filing said.
Zamora built this swanky home for herself in 2020, with the property estimated to be worth $300,000
Another allegation claims that Zamora told doctors her daughter could only eat through a feeding tube, but when they were separated her daughter immediately began to eat by mouth.
As investigators urge the public to come forward if they think they sent money to Zamora on fraudulent grounds, GoFundMe reportedly said they do not have any active fundraisers for the mother.
Medical experts have said they believe the child is a victim of Munchausen syndrome-by-proxy, a disorder where a caregiver, often a parent or guardian, pretends someone else has health problems.
The disorder has varying motivations, often cited as either attention for appearing to be a caring person or soliciting money from well-wishers.
Detectives said Zamora refused to answer questions on her intentions when confronted with the allegations, and ‘denied doing anything to the victim and continually blamed the doctors.’
The charges Zamora now faces include aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, related to a scalpel she allegedly used to insert a feeding tube into her daughter.
