Maryland police official confirmed that a 4-year-old girl died after her mother, Iris Hernandez Rivas, 20, reportedly kicked her in the stomach as punishment for not brushing her teeth.

According to KTLA, emergency responders arrived at Rivas home in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on Thursday, January 26, after receiving a 911 call about an unresponsive child. The little girl was  later identified as Nohely Alexandra Martinez Hernandez.

Rivas initially told officials that her daughter went into the bathroom around 11 a.m. to take a shower, but 15 or 20 minutes later she heard a strange noise. When she went into the bathroom to check on Alexandra, she found the child unconscious and lying face down in the bathtub.

Rivas reportedly waited an hour before reporting the incident.

The girl was rushed to a local hospital in serious condition. She was later flown to the Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Washington D.C., where she died.

Doctors said the child had multiple bruises on her body and suffered from head trauma.

When investigators questioned Rivas, she admitted to kicking her daughter in the stomach as punishment for not brushing her teeth. She also said that Alexandra hit her head on a wall after falling backward from the kick.

The Maryland mother was arrested and charged with “one count of first-degree child abuse and one count of first-degree assault,” but Rivas could face more charges after the medical examiner determines the girl’s cause of death.

Rivas is being held at the Montgomery county jail without bond.

[Featured Image: Montgomery County Police]