Child-death Suspects are Nabbed
Web Posted: 03/11/2007 01:23 AM CST
Brian Chasnoff
Express-News
Valerie Lopez on Christmas Eve beat her 18-month-old daughter to death, hid the body beneath their South Side apartment and two months later added the body of her infant son, officials said Saturday.
Yet, the young mother's life at 1302 W. Winnipeg Ave. assumed a predictable, occasionally joyful pattern as the weeks turned to months and a stench began to settle around the triplex.
She baked a birthday cake in January for her live-in boyfriend, Jerry Salazar, and hosted a party in the room above her daughter's decomposing body. On Valentine's Day, she brought him fresh roses and a box of chocolates, later joining guests for a barbeque get-together in the triplex's front yard.
A dead animal, the couple claimed, was stinking up the property. They told friends the children were staying with their grandmother.
"It didn't seem like it bothered her or him," said Tony Serenil, 41, a tenant at the triplex and Salazar's cousin. "Like if those children never existed."
Such delusions of normalcy were shattered last week when a neighbor discovered beneath the triplex the bodies of Sariyah Garcia and 4-month-old Sebastian Lopez. On Saturday, a task force of law enforcement officials tracked the couple to the South Side apartment of an acquaintance of Salazar's, capping a four-day manhunt, Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Tom Smith said.
The couple had hidden in a shed a few blocks from the triplex and possibly a brushy, remote field near Southwest Loop 410 and Texas 16, Smith said. They were captured about 5 a.m. at the apartment without struggle.
Salazar, 28, was charged with injury to a child by omission "because he admitted knowing (Lopez) was abusing the children," District Attorney Susan Reed said at a news conference.
Salazar remained in Bexar County Jail on Saturday in lieu of posting $1 million bond.
Lopez, 19, was charged with one count of capital murder in the death of Sariyah. She remained in Bexar County Jail on Saturday in lieu of posting $10 million bond.
Reed said she plans to seek the death penalty against Lopez.
Lopez admitted to police the child "would not stop crying so (she) repeatedly struck (Sariyah) about the head and body," according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant.
Later the child appeared unresponsive.
"Instead of calling for medical attention, (she) wrapped (Sariyah) in a blanket, wrapped the blanket with tape and placed the child in a trash bag," the document said.
She then put the trash bag in a duffel bag and hid it under the house, the affidavit said.
When Sebastian died, Lopez treated his body the same way and placed it under the house with his sister. Questioned Saturday by police, Lopez said she had killed her son accidentally by rolling onto him, Reed said.
"For whatever reason, evil lurks in some individuals and they kill children," Reed said. "But we can't stand by and wash our hands of it."
Police Chief William McManus, echoing the outrage expressed by many people, called the children's deaths "an unspeakable tragedy."
Some believe the tragedy could have been avoided.
Child Protective Services first became aware of Lopez in 2002 when the 15-year-old mother was accused of punching her 9-month-old daughter, Alexis Ramirez, in the chest with a closed fist. Lopez was convicted in juvenile court of assault on a child.
CPS later placed Lopez and Alexis in a foster home after an accusation that Lopez herself had been abused. The next year Lopez gave birth to a son, Jeovoni Lopez, who eventually was placed in the same foster home.
Lopez ran away from the home in January 2005, leaving her two children behind. They were later were adopted. In October of that year, Lopez gave birth to Sariyah.
At first, CPS had no idea that Lopez had had another child, CPS spokeswoman Mary Walker said.
But a grandmother of Sariyah called police in November when she suspected the child was being abused. An officer saw a bruise on the child's face but left after Lopez told the officer a 5-year-old neighbor had hit Sariyah, said police spokesman Sgt. Gabe Trevino.
Police have the authority to remove children from homes, but the officer chose not to after investigating the mother's claim; instead he called CPS. When a caseworker arrived at the triplex later that day, no one was home. CPS failed to make contact with the couple or their children despite more than 40 attempts between November and March, Walker said.
"This isn't just knocking on doors. It's peering through windows, talking to neighbors," she said.
Neighbors have countered the agency's excuses, saying the couple often hung out on the triplex's front porch, and Lopez worked at a fast-food restaurant just one block away. Saturday, someone had spray painted "Shame on CPS" on a wooden board nailed to the triplex.
Lopez's relatives, who had pined for the young mother's capture, weren't elated Saturday, only angry and exhausted.
Two of her sisters recalled Christmas Day when Lopez failed to show up at a family gathering. She hasn't contacted them since.
They recounted a young life often spent promiscuously on the streets because Lopez's separated parents would not allow her behavior in their homes.
Yet there were moments when Lopez seemed happy to be a mom, said Tina Vara, her sister, who called police more than four years ago when Lopez struck Alexis in the chest.
"There would be times she would play with (her children) and be nice to them," Vara said. "But then she would just flip."
Brian Chasnoff
Express-News
Valerie Lopez on Christmas Eve beat her 18-month-old daughter to death, hid the body beneath their South Side apartment and two months later added the body of her infant son, officials said Saturday.
Yet, the young mother's life at 1302 W. Winnipeg Ave. assumed a predictable, occasionally joyful pattern as the weeks turned to months and a stench began to settle around the triplex.
She baked a birthday cake in January for her live-in boyfriend, Jerry Salazar, and hosted a party in the room above her daughter's decomposing body. On Valentine's Day, she brought him fresh roses and a box of chocolates, later joining guests for a barbeque get-together in the triplex's front yard.
A dead animal, the couple claimed, was stinking up the property. They told friends the children were staying with their grandmother.
"It didn't seem like it bothered her or him," said Tony Serenil, 41, a tenant at the triplex and Salazar's cousin. "Like if those children never existed."
Such delusions of normalcy were shattered last week when a neighbor discovered beneath the triplex the bodies of Sariyah Garcia and 4-month-old Sebastian Lopez. On Saturday, a task force of law enforcement officials tracked the couple to the South Side apartment of an acquaintance of Salazar's, capping a four-day manhunt, Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Tom Smith said.
The couple had hidden in a shed a few blocks from the triplex and possibly a brushy, remote field near Southwest Loop 410 and Texas 16, Smith said. They were captured about 5 a.m. at the apartment without struggle.
Salazar, 28, was charged with injury to a child by omission "because he admitted knowing (Lopez) was abusing the children," District Attorney Susan Reed said at a news conference.
Salazar remained in Bexar County Jail on Saturday in lieu of posting $1 million bond.
Lopez, 19, was charged with one count of capital murder in the death of Sariyah. She remained in Bexar County Jail on Saturday in lieu of posting $10 million bond.
Reed said she plans to seek the death penalty against Lopez.
Lopez admitted to police the child "would not stop crying so (she) repeatedly struck (Sariyah) about the head and body," according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant.
Later the child appeared unresponsive.
"Instead of calling for medical attention, (she) wrapped (Sariyah) in a blanket, wrapped the blanket with tape and placed the child in a trash bag," the document said.
She then put the trash bag in a duffel bag and hid it under the house, the affidavit said.
When Sebastian died, Lopez treated his body the same way and placed it under the house with his sister. Questioned Saturday by police, Lopez said she had killed her son accidentally by rolling onto him, Reed said.
"For whatever reason, evil lurks in some individuals and they kill children," Reed said. "But we can't stand by and wash our hands of it."
Police Chief William McManus, echoing the outrage expressed by many people, called the children's deaths "an unspeakable tragedy."
Some believe the tragedy could have been avoided.
Child Protective Services first became aware of Lopez in 2002 when the 15-year-old mother was accused of punching her 9-month-old daughter, Alexis Ramirez, in the chest with a closed fist. Lopez was convicted in juvenile court of assault on a child.
CPS later placed Lopez and Alexis in a foster home after an accusation that Lopez herself had been abused. The next year Lopez gave birth to a son, Jeovoni Lopez, who eventually was placed in the same foster home.
Lopez ran away from the home in January 2005, leaving her two children behind. They were later were adopted. In October of that year, Lopez gave birth to Sariyah.
At first, CPS had no idea that Lopez had had another child, CPS spokeswoman Mary Walker said.
But a grandmother of Sariyah called police in November when she suspected the child was being abused. An officer saw a bruise on the child's face but left after Lopez told the officer a 5-year-old neighbor had hit Sariyah, said police spokesman Sgt. Gabe Trevino.
Police have the authority to remove children from homes, but the officer chose not to after investigating the mother's claim; instead he called CPS. When a caseworker arrived at the triplex later that day, no one was home. CPS failed to make contact with the couple or their children despite more than 40 attempts between November and March, Walker said.
"This isn't just knocking on doors. It's peering through windows, talking to neighbors," she said.
Neighbors have countered the agency's excuses, saying the couple often hung out on the triplex's front porch, and Lopez worked at a fast-food restaurant just one block away. Saturday, someone had spray painted "Shame on CPS" on a wooden board nailed to the triplex.
Lopez's relatives, who had pined for the young mother's capture, weren't elated Saturday, only angry and exhausted.
Two of her sisters recalled Christmas Day when Lopez failed to show up at a family gathering. She hasn't contacted them since.
They recounted a young life often spent promiscuously on the streets because Lopez's separated parents would not allow her behavior in their homes.
Yet there were moments when Lopez seemed happy to be a mom, said Tina Vara, her sister, who called police more than four years ago when Lopez struck Alexis in the chest.
"There would be times she would play with (her children) and be nice to them," Vara said. "But then she would just flip."
posted by panthergirl at 5:48 PM
<< Home