"Jane Doe" - 10 yo- Accused: Laura Linn Cano - San Antonio TX

A woman suspected of beating her stepdaughter over her schoolwork remained in Bexar County Jail on Monday.


Laura Linn Cano, 46, was held on one count of injury to a child with bodily injury. A judge set bail at $15,000. Kirby police arrested Cano early Friday, hours after her stepdaughter told her school nurse she'd been abused, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. The girl, 10, told the nurse she was beaten Thursday for receiving a grade of 78 in math and missing several science assignments, police said. The girl reportedly was struck multiple times with a belt in the lower back, kicked to the ground, stepped on, struck and grabbed by the neck, the affidavit states. After the incident, Cano gave the girl a shower and blow-dried her hair, as if nothing happened, she told police. On the way to school the next morning, she told her father the family dog had injured her, but upon reaching school she told her friend and later confided in the nurse. When questioned, Cano reportedly said she “blacked out,” and since the girl had visible injuries and no one else was at home at the time, “she must have done it,” according to the affidavit. The affidavit states the girl was afraid to tell anyone because she feared if Cano were in jail, she'd be placed in foster care. Mary Walker, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said a judge in 2003 ordered the girl removed from her mother's care in Dallas after allegations of neglectful supervision and physical abuse. “The child was in foster care for a while,” Walker said. “And at some point, the paternal grandparents and the father were awarded joint custody.”