In Albuquerque, New Mexico there is a small grave of a baby that has been fenced in and locked up. No one can get to the grave to lay flowers or grieve. District Attorney Susana Martinez says this is just another way that Brianna Lopez's parents are causing this precious baby pain, even after her death.
"They are isolating her not only in her life but also in her death."
On July 19, 2002, Brianna was only five months old and suffered some of the worst abuse imaginable for a child that age. The abuse resulted in the death of this poor baby girl.
On record are allegations of sexual abuse, being shaken and beaten, over 13 adult sized bite marks as well as other lacerations and contusions over her entire body. In juries to her genital and anal area were also found . Brianna's family called 911 and said that she had fallen out of her chair and was no longer breathing.
On trial for her death were Brianna's mother, Stephanie Lopez who is accused of murdering her, her father, Andy Walters and an uncle, Steven Lopez who are accused of sexually abusing her and murdering her and her grandmother, Patricia Walters and one other uncle, Robert Walters Jr., who face charges of failing to report child abuse. Brianna's uncle Steven, her father Andrew and her mother Stephanie are facing the most time in prison. Though NONE of them will serve enough time to make up for what they did to this innocent baby girl.
Stephanie Lopez said:
"Until the day I die I will feel guilty for the way my daughter left this world in such a horrible way."
Stephanie told the judge that she didn't have anything to do with the death of her daughter and that it had been husbands fault, claiming she never knew that Brianna was being abused.
Stepanie's Attorney, Stephen Ryan had the NERVE to say:
"Andy killed baby Brianna didn't he. If everybody else gets to blame him the mother of the child ought to get to
blame him too."
Susana Martinez, District Attorney had this to say:
"To say this child was beaten head to toe is not an exaggeration."
"I find their statements extremely self-serving. It's all about how I feel, what I've gone through, how life has
been difficult for me since I've been arrested. It's all about I, I, I and never there was an empathy for Brianna."
There was one woman who spoke up for Brianna. A great Aunt name Rosanne Garcia stated:
"I heard them pleading for mercy for them not to be given so many years and they all had defense attorneys
to help them but who was there for Brianna when she was being violated and abused."
"The time that they are going to get, is not going to be enough."
Susana Martinez asked for the maximum punishment possible for all of them. Sadly, their sentences do not fit their crimes. It took a jury of seven men and five woman nine hours to find all of them guilty.
Andy Walters, the father, received a mere 57 years in prison and her uncle Steven Lopez received only 51 years for sexually abusing and causing the death of Brianna due to abuse and neglect.
Stephanie Lopez, her mother received a very short sentence of 27 years in prison for child abuse and neglect resulting in death. The Jury decided that she was not guilty of intentional abuse since she did not inflict the abuse but had allowed it to take place.
Brianna's grandmother, Patricia Walters and her uncle, Robert Walters Jr each got off easy with only 30 days in jail for failing to report the abuse and save Brianna's life. The maximum would have been one year, which is what they
SHOULD have gotten:
"Those two individuals knew that she was being abused. She was full of bruises that were old, green, brown, yellow colored. Had they reported it early, had they insisted on that child not being abused, maybe we would have never had her death take place"
Susana Martinez
As each guilty verdict was read, the Lopez and Walters families showed their emotions by embracing and crying. The only one of the defendants to show emotion at that time was Steven Lopez who is the twin brother of Stephanie, put his head in his hands and started to cry.
When the jury was dismissed and had left the court room, the defendants then began to show their emotions by crying and hugging their lawyers who tried to console them. Stephanie and Steven were allowed to hug each other and cry before being lead out of the court room by guards.
LAS CRUCES - Alcohol -- not speed -- contributed to a four-vehicle crash Friday night that killed two Las Cruces men, according to New Mexico State Police.
Ruben Espinoza Jr., 28, of Alamogordo was headed west on U.S. 70 just after 8:30 p.m. when he appears to have made an improper lane change near mile post 154, state police Capt. Rich Libicer said.
Espinoza's 2004 Chrysler sedan smashed into another westbound vehicle, a black 2004 GMC pickup driven by 30-year-old Robert Walters Jr., one of the men charged in the 2002 Baby Brianna case.
"They became tangled up and went across the median," Libicer said.
The GMC pickup was torn in half and flipped over by an eastbound tractor-trailer, which also hit the Chrysler sedan. The pickup was then struck by another eastbound vehicle, a red 2002 Ford pickup driven by 42-year-old Manuel Campos of Las Cruces, whose 10-year-old grandson, Isaiah Campos, was riding in the back seat. Manuel Campos was killed at the scene. Walters, who was convicted of failing to report child abuse after his 5-month-old niece, Brianna, was brutally abused to death by other relatives, also died instantly.
The boy and Espinoza, who received severe injuries and remains in critical condition, were transported by helicopter to University Medical Center in El Paso.
The driver of the 2005 Volvo tractor-trailer, 55-year-old David Hayes of Independence, Mo., was treated at Memorial Medical Center for minor injuries. Hayes and Isaiah Campos were both listed in stable condition Saturday.
Mayfield High School Assistant Principal Jeff Brilliant, his wife and children were in their backyard a mile away when they heard the impact.
"It didn't sound like a wreck. It sounded like an explosion," Brilliant said. "And not a firecracker explosion, we're talking like a bomb explosion is what it sounded like to me."
State police Sgt. Ron Taylor described the damage to the two pickups as "about the most destructive I've seen."
"There was debris scattered for a long way on both sides of the road," he said. "One of the wheels of one of the vehicles was out in a field north of U.S. 70."
Results of a blood test are pending for Espinoza, who does not face criminal charges yet in the crash.
Investigators "could smell the odor of alcohol in the car and on (Espinoza's) person at the hospital," Taylor said. "A strong odor. Someone told me there was at least one (beer) can in his car, but it could have been punctured by the wreck."
Espinoza's criminal history includes multiple traffic offenses, including a conviction for reckless driving, a conviction for driving with a suspended license and two convictions for failing to use seat belts, according to court records. He also was convicted of battery against a household member and disorderly conduct in 2003 and for marijuana possession in 2002.
And in 2006, Espinoza was arrested by state police and arrested on charges including drunken driving - with a .07 blood-alcohol content, slightly less than the legal limit. Those charges were dismissed in 2008.
The investigation is ongoing into Friday's wreck.
"There are (no charges) at this time - there are some results we have to wait on," Libicer said. "We'll wait on the results of blood tests and go from there."
The crash scene is being reconstructed with the assistance of the Las Cruces Police Department.
"We're dealing with so many vehicles, so much evidence at the scene - we want to make sure we're getting it right," Libicer said.
Highway traffic on U.S. 70 between Sonoma Ranch Boulevard and Mesa was detoured on frontage roads until 5:30 a.m. for westbound traffic and 7 a.m. for eastbound traffic
