Brianna Lopez
February 14, 2002 - July 19, 2002

On July 19, 2002, Briana 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 . Briana'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 Briana'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. Briana'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:

Stephanie told the judge that she didn't have anything to do with the death of her daughter and that it had been her husbands fault, claiming she never knew that Briana was being abused.

Stepanie's Attorney, Stephen Ryan had the NERVE  to say:

Susana Martinez, District Attorney had this to say:

There was one woman who spoke up for Briana. A great Aunt  name Rosanne Garcia stated:

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 Briana 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.

Briana'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 Briana's life. The maximum would have been one year, which is what they 
SHOULD have gotten:

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.

One of Brianna's grandparents had her buried in Doña Ana County. Brianna's parents have said they do not want a grave maker for her, so she has no headstone to honor her in death:

Some people in the community worry that if there is nothing to mark Brianna's grave, her abuse case will go unnoticed or that she will not be remembered:

UPDATE June 21, 2007:

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO—Attorney General Gary King today announced a New Mexico Supreme Court decision that overturns a New Mexico Court of Appeals ruling on one of the state’s most notorious cases of child abuse. The Court says Stephanie Lopez’ conviction and sentence will stand in connection with the death of her 5-month old daughter, Brianna Lopez, also known as Baby Brianna.

In 2006, the Court of Appeals overturned Lopez’ and other defendants convictions based on a perceived violation of their constitutional rights. The Attorney General’s Office appealed the decision to the Supreme Court and today’s announcement is based on that appeal.

Stephanie Lopez was originally sentenced to 27 years in prison for her part in the infant’s death. Her boyfriend Andy Walters received a 57-year sentence and her twin brother Steven Lopez was given 51 years in prison for their roles in the 2002 death of the Las Cruces girl.

The New Mexico Supreme Court today reinstated the conviction of the mother of Baby Brianna, the 5-month-old girl whose 2002 death shocked the Las Cruces community and led to tougher state penalties for child killers.

The decision, which you can read by clicking here, was announced by the attorney general’s office. The court’s justices were unanimous in agreeing that Stephanie Lopez’s rights were violated, but split 3-2 on whether the error was harmless, with Justices Petra Maes, Pamela Minzer and Patricio Serna saying the error was harmless and reinstating the conviction.

The convictions of Brianna’s mother Stephanie Lopez, father Andy Walters and Uncle Steven Lopez were overturned by the Court of Appeals in 2006. That court found that their right to confront and cross examine their accusers had been violated because they were tried together.

The attorney general’s office appealed the decision.

That appellate court ruling stemmed from a 2004 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said defendants who accused each other had to be tried separately so they could be called as witnesses in each others’ cases without giving up their right to remain silent in their own cases.

The complex issue surrounded whether statements from Steven Lopez and Andy Walters that incriminated Stephanie Lopez could be admitted into evidence since she could not cross-examine the two because they invoked their right against self incrimination.

The Supreme Court agreed with the appellate court that the admission of the statements violated Stephanie Lopez’s right to confront her accuser. However, the court also found that the error was “harmless” because the jury would have convicted her even without the statements, and that’s why it reinstated the conviction.

Justices Edward Chavez and Richard Bosson dissented, saying the admission of the statements was not a harmless error.

The court has not yet ruled on whether to reinstate the convictions of Steven Lopez and Walters.

Brianna’s father and uncle were sentenced to 57 and 51 years in prison, respectively, for raping and killing the girl. Her mother received 27 years for negligence that led to the girl’s death.

The case was one of seven child deaths in a four-year span in Doña Ana County that shocked the community and led to a toughening of state laws regarding child abuse resulting in death. Brianna, whose case was by far the most egregious, became the icon for the movement to toughen the laws.

The overturning of the convictions further shocked the community and reopened wounds that had not yet healed. Prosecutors have said they’ll retry any of the cases in which the Supreme Court doesn’t reinstate convictions.
 

UPDATE: January 28, 2009

Not one photograph exists of Brianna in life. There are autopsy photos that are out there, I refuse to show children in that state. I was able to locate this one picture of her grave where I was glad to see that people ARE going against the wishes of her parents and honoring her memory with flowers. I can't imagine what kind of monsters would build a cage around a grave in order to keep the people who wish to honor the memory of a child, from doing that. I can't imagine a cemetery allowing this to happen. These people KILLED this child, they have no more rights to her! Since her death, a new grave marker has been built outside of the cage her selfish family has put up and people DO leave things for her.

(NOTE: I struggled with wanting to put the picture of Brianna on the
page and not wanting to dishonor her by showing her in death. I
have made the decision to put her picture on the site TO honor her
and let people know that she was a beautiful baby and that she DID
live. I am still not sure I am doing the right thing, I can only hope 
that I am)

UPDATE March 13, 2009:

On March 13, 2009 Andrew Walters was transferred out of the New Mexico prison and he is now in Oregon's Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. This move was made for his own protection. Steven Lopez will be transferred at a later date. It's disgusting that these two men are being protected when they did NOTHING to protect an innocent baby.

New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department

.
Share this page with your family and friends!
.

Your Name: 
.
Your E-mail Address: 
.
Family Or Friends E-mail address: 
.
This button will take viewers to the page you are viewing right now.
NOTE: ALL e-mail addresses are kept confidential.
NEVER harvested and NEVER shared with anyone
other than who YOU send this page to.
.

Please let me know that you were here, by signing my
guestbook. The link below will take you to my guestbook
page where you can read a message about my site and
choose to read or sign.