A Texas husband and wife are behind bars after the adoptive child they kept locked up in the family”s laundry room recently died, according to law enforcement in the Lone Star State.

Jonathan Miranda, 34, and Christina Miranda, 32, both stand accused of capital murder, according to Bexar County court records.

The pair were arrested on Wednesday evening at a residence on Cielo Ranch in the East Village neighborhood of San Antonio, according to a press release issued by the San Antonio Police Department.

Authorities say the couple’s violence and abuse took the life of their 10-year-old child, who is identified as Michael Miranda in court documents.

On the night of Sept. 24, officers responded to a report of an unresponsive child at a different residence on the same street, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime. First responders were unable to offer help and he was pronounced dead at the scene of the crime.

“[T]he victim was observed to be very small for his reported age,” the affidavit stated. “He appeared to be somewhat emaciated, but his stomach appeared to be distended. He had abrasions on his face, legs, and feet. There appeared to be bruising and trauma over his entire back in various stages of healing. During the examination by the medical examiner, large open sores were located on the victim’s buttocks when the diaper was removed.”

The affidavit also describes trauma to other parts of the victim’s body – including a possible internal injury to his neck, “signs of possible starvation and malnutrition,” a lacerated lower intestine and a dislocated arm.

“This was intentionally done to a 10-year-old that was already weakened by at least a year of daily abuse, neglect, and physical assaults,” the affidavit goes on.

As detectives attempted to interview the couple, only the wife was initially compliant, police claim. Christina Miranda told investigators Michael “had a history of abuse, neglect and alleged sexual abuse,” and allegedly confessed to keeping him in the family’s laundry room “for the past couple of days as he was ill.”

Eventually, the female defendant is said to have ended her collaborative discussions and requested a lawyer, police say.

Left to right: Jonathan Miranda and Christina Miranda (San Antonio Police Department).

Detectives looking into the laundry room, however, believe Michael’s adoptive mother undersold her alleged admission. Police say the room “had been arranged and…occupied for much longer than the two days that were being reported,” according to the affidavit. There was also the presence of dried feces directly on the floor and on a pet pad “as if someone had been compelled to use that as a toilet.”

Authorities also noted the presence of broken drywall – which they believed to be “signs of struggle and some sort of violence.”

Witnesses who also lived at the Miranda residence told investigators Michael was abused every day with items such as a “wooden paddle” and a “rubber paddle with metal inside,” according to the affidavit. Other forms of abuse allegedly included forcing the child to stand with his arms raised in the air for extended periods of time – with additional punishment meted out if he dropped his arms.

Other children who lived in the house allegedly said their parents punished Michael by picking him “up by his feet and throwing him to the floor until he stopped moving or whining,” according to the affidavit.

The defendants are alleged to have abused the child until he urinated or defecated on himself – and then, at the same time, refusing to clean the boy up for quite awhile after such incidents, the affidavit claims.

And, investigators say, they even obtained video footage that showcased some of the abuse the little boy endured.

“The injuries to the 10-year-old child were persistent with continuous trauma of approximately a year,” the police department’s press release summarizes. “After further investigation and hard work from the Medical Examiners and Homicide Detectives, there was enough evidence to charge the two suspects.”