Brianna Lopez Case Summary

The case assessment of Brianna Lopez begins with her birth on February 14, 2002 in a New Mexico hospital. After leaving the hospital, Brianna resided in Las Cruces, New Mexico with her unwed parents, Andrew “Andy” Walters, 21, and Stephanie Lopez, 19. There were also four other adults and one child, Andy and Stephanie’s 18 month old son, living in the home (State v. Walters, 2007). Among these adults was Brianna’s uncle, Steven Lopez. Shortly after her arrival home, Baby Brianna experienced extreme physical, verbal, and sexual abuse from her parents and uncle. She was slapped, kicked, punched, pinched, thrown, and raped. Consequently, this maltreatment resulted in “bleeding on her brain, broken ribs, broken arms, broken legs, and lacerations

Meanwhile, Baby Brianna’s mother ignored her cries and disregarded her injuries. The following morning, Stephanie noticed her daughter near death but chose to wait several hours before calling an ambulance. At only five months and five days young, Baby Brianna was pronounced dead on July 19, 2002 at 11:10 a.m. (Loving Acts,” n.d.). Her parents and uncle were arrested and charged in connection with her death. Walters was convicted of rape and sentenced to 63 years for child abuse resulting in death and rape, and Steven Lopez received a 57 year sentence for rape and neglect resulting in death. Both are eligible for day for day good time and credit for time served in jail awaiting trial. Although convicted of negligent child abuse in connection with her daughter's death, Stephanie Lopez was sentenced to 27 years, but was released after serving only 13 years. In addition, Walters's mother and brother were also sentenced to 60 days for failure to report child abuse (“Mother in horrific,”

9). All of these factors appear to be relevant in five-month-old Baby Brianna’s case. Stephanie and Steven are Hispanic. They lived in the mobile home of Andy’s mother, Patricia, along with his brother, and Patricia’s partner. Considering all of the family members, the history they bring to the current crisis, and the societal context in which they live are also important aspects that propose explanations for child maltreatment (Popple & Vecchilolla, 2007, p.