Stephanie lopez baby brianna cage
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Baby Brianna Lopez would have turned 17 on Valentine’s Day.
In 2002, the infant was brutally beaten and sexually assaulted to death by family members when she was only several months old. Every year, a large group visits her gravesite at the Doña Ana Cemetery to celebrate her birthday.
The gravesite in the vilage of Dona Ana is maintained by volunteers and people who want to keep her memory alive. The site is about five miles north of Las Cruces.
Brianna’s grave was encased in a steel cage and was locked for years. It now sits open with flowers, stuffed animals and ornaments with prayers. She was six-and-a-half months old when she was killed.
A total of five people were connected to her death. A grandmother and uncle were convicted of failing to report the abuse. Her mother, Stephanie, was convicted and sentenced to 26 years in prison. She was released from prison in 2016. Her father and another uncle remain in prison.
Thursday afternoon, two people very clos
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Inmate talks about Baby Brianna’s mom's life behind bars
An inmate who spent five years behind bars with baby Brianna's mother is opening up about the time she spent with the woman.
In 2003, Stephanie Lopez was sentenced to 27 years plus two years' parole for not doing anything to stop the repeated rape and abuse of her infant daughter by the girl's father and uncle.
Brianna Lopez died at only 5 1/2 months old, succumbing to the horrific beatings and sexual abuse she endured in her short life.
The infant's death has been called one of the most brutal cases of child abuse in the state's history. Brianna's father and uncle are each serving more than 50 years in prison their role in her death.
Due to good behavior, Lopez was released after serving only 13 years. She will still have to serve two years of parole, which will be served in Texas.
Lopez was sentenced around the same time as Maria Perez. Both women were sent to the New Mexico Women Correctiona
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Baby Brianna's mother released from prison
LAS CRUCES - Stephanie Rene Lopez, who served 13 years in prison for the 2002 death of her 5½-month-old daughter, Brianna Lopez — the Doña Ana County infant who died as a result of horrific physical and sexuell abuse bygd family members and later became a symbol in efforts to toughen child abuse laws in New Mexico — walked out of a Cibola County prison as a free woman on Wednesday.
Lopez, now 33, was sentenced to 27 years in prison in 2003 after she was funnen guilty of negligent child abuse resulting in death and a second child abuse charge. Brianna’s father, paternal grandmother and two of her uncles also were convicted in the child’s death, following a joint rättegång that spanned two weeks in Albuquerque.
Brianna’s death on July 19, 2002, fryst vatten believed to be one of the worst cases of child abuse cases in New Mexico. Her autopsy revealed extensive injuries to her head and brain, which proved fatal. Her tiny body was covered in bruises and