A couple from West Texas has been arrested and charged with capital murder over the death of an 8-year-old girl they had been raising. Daniel and Ashley Schwarz, aged 44 and 34, forced the young girl to jump on a trampoline non-stop under excessive heat as punishment. The girl, identified as Jaylin, was also deprived of food and water by the couple as part of her supposed disciplinary action.

Odessa police officers responded to a medical emergency call on August 29 at the couple's home and found the lifeless body of the young girl.

According to police reports, she was denied breakfast prior to being made to continuously jump on the trampoline for an "extended period of time." The couple also refused to give her water because she stopped jumping despite the temperature peaking to about 103 degrees on that day.

The girl's autopsy revealed her death was caused by dehydration while authorities ruled the manner of the girl's death as homicide.

Jaylin is not the biological child of the Schwarz couple, but they had been raising her over the years and are listed as her guardians. Her biological mother, Alysha Anderton, said she had been trying to get a hold of her daughter at the time of her death. Anderton is in a custody battle with the Schwarzes who also have custody of Jaylin's sister, according to an article on Dallas News.

Anderton wrote on her social media that Jaylin's funeral was the first time she was able to see her in over three years.

"I never got the chance to tell her how HARD I was trying to be in her life and I was SO SO close. Only a few months away from being able to see them," Anderton wrote on Facebook.

"It's not fair that they got so many memories with her and all I'm left with is a hole in my heart that's so big that I'm completely numb and empty."

In other media reports on the story, a second child was also subjected to discipline that same day but was allowed to go inside. Other details on the investigation were not made available.

The Schwarzes are currently detained at the Ector County jail, with bail set at $500,000 each.

Photo focus: Summer
A Greek schoolgirl jumps on a trampoline as a tourist slides into a "flying fox" wire into the sea at an Athens beach June 13, 2001. REUTERS