"Baby Jane" LOPEZ - Newborn - Holt (W of Stockton) CA

Calif. teen charged as adult in death of newborn

STOCKTON - Officials said Thursday that a 17-year-old girl from the rural farming community of Holt used a pair of scissors to murder her premature baby girl before burying it in a shallow grave.

The girl, Patricia Lopez, appeared before a judge in San Joaquin County Superior Court to hear that prosecutors have charged her as an adult with first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death.

If she is found guilty, the teen, who is a student at Tracy's West High School, faces a state prison term of 26 years to life.

While a prosecutor said the adult charges fit the crime, not everybody is convinced.

"I have a hard time thinking of a 17-year-old girl being put into prison for life for something like this," said John Schick, a law professor at Humphreys College Laurence Drivon School of Law. Schick is not involved in the girl's defense.

Schick said he did not know all facts, and prosecutors revealed few of them upon her arraignment. It's unclear how the scissors were used. But Schick speculated that the girl was likely not thinking clearly and may have feared her parents.

"Maybe she needs protection from the law," he said, suggesting that manslaughter, which carries up to 11 years in prison, would be a more appropriate charge.

Lopez apparently concealed her pregnancy from her parents, the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office has said.

She likely gave birth Monday and then sought treatment Tuesday evening at a local hospital for complications related to childbirth. Medical workers contacted investigators, who interviewed her.

Detectives later found the buried remains of a child born after 22 to 26 weeks of gestation. The grave was near her family's mobile home, where officials said Lopez gave birth and killed the baby in the bathroom.

In court Thursday, Judge Richard Guiliani read Lopez the charges and asked if she wanted to speak with an attorney. She responded with silence, as if confused.

"If there's somebody here who needs a lawyer, it certainly is you," Guiliani told her, next appointing an attorney to represent her.

San Joaquin County Deputy Public Defender Georgia McElroy talked briefly in private with Lopez and then asked the judge to set bail so the girl might go free pending the conclusion of her case.

As proof that she would return to court, McElroy said Lopez's parents, two sisters and more than a dozen relatives came to court in a show of support.

She asked the relatives to raise their hands for the judge to see.

read more> http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110211/A_NEWS/102110321

A 17-year-old California girl has been arrested and charged with
murdering her newborn baby girl and burying her in a shallow grave near
her parents' home.

Patricia Lopez, of Holt, an unincorporated community seven miles west of Stockton,
is being charged as an adult with first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death after
allegedly using a pair of scissors to kill the newborn, state media outlets reported.

The West High School student spent about five or six months concealing
her pregnancy. Then, after giving birth prematurely in the bathroom of
her family's home Monday, police say she killed the newborn girl.

According to the complaint, Lopez used scissors as a weapon,
but it is unclear how the scissors were used.

Lopez did not tell her parents that she had given birth and buried the
baby in a shallow grave near the family's single-wide trailer.

On Tuesday, Lopez showed up at a local hospital. Doctors examined her
and determined she had recently given birth. This apparently led to
questions about the newborn's whereabouts and condition. The hospital
called the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department at about 5 p.m.

Police questioned Lopez, then went to her home and found the infant's
body buried in a nearby shallow grave. The baby is believed to be
between 22 and 26 weeks of gestation, police said.

"The 17-year-old allegedly killed the baby inside the bathroom, put it
in a plastic bag and buried it ... in a hole," sheriff's Deputy Les
Garcia told ABC News 10 Sacramento.

Lopez was arrested early Wednesday and booked into juvenile hall.

Garcia told the newspaper that the baby's father, whom they are not identifying,
has been contacted by investigators.

On Thursday, Lopez appeared in court before Judge Richard Giuliani. The
charges were read against her, and the San Joaquin County District
Attorney's Office announced it was charging her as an adult.
A conviction could result in a sentence of 26 years to life.

San Joaquin County Deputy Public Defender Georgia McElroy was appointed
to represent Lopez during her court appearance. The defendant did not
enter a plea and is scheduled to appear in court again Tuesday. Guiliani
denied a request by McElroy to set bail in the case.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department referred inquiries about the
case to the district attorney's office. Calls to the DA were not
immediately returned today.

Deputy District Attorney Claire Van Vuren told reporters she is still
waiting on the autopsy report. She declined to elaborate.

"We can't really speculate at this time what her motive was," Van Vuren said,
according to The Stockton Record. "With the little information we have, we felt she should be tried as an adult."

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/11/teen-patricia-lopez-accused-of-using-scissors-to-murder-her-newb/

How sad. And just think, she could have gone to a doctor and he could have done it legally. Little girls need to play with baby dolls like in the old days; that was good practice for how a baby should be treated. We use to be very careful with our dolls and pretend they were real. Of course Sunday/Sabbath school learning was important for lessons regarding all areas of life.

September 27, 2011 <>

STOCKTON - A county medical examiner established that "Baby Girl Lopez," as he named her, was not only born full term, she also was delivered alive.

The product of a hidden pregnancy, her life lasted only minutes.

Her mother, 18-year-old Patricia Lopez, a studious girl who dreamed of becoming a doctor, is accused of killing the newborn soon after giving birth in the bathroom of her family's Holt mobile home in February.

She allegedly buried the remains in the backyard while everyone else in the family slept.

"There was overwhelming evidence that this baby was born alive," San Joaquin County Chief Medical Examiner Bennet Omalu said during a preliminary hearing Monday. Autopsy reports indicate that the baby had blood preasure and breathed air for a period before expiring.

Lopez told police she stabbed the baby with a pair of scissors, then took a shower and combed her hair while the baby was dying, Jimenez said. Lopez told police she returned to the bathroom to clean up and bury the body, Jimenez said.

Omalu said the newborn, identified in court papers as Baby Jane Doe, was stabbed 10 times in the chest and sustained three deep wounds to her neck.

Lopez was charged as an adult, facing a possible sentence of 26 years to life if convicted of first-degree murder. A judge is expected to decide today whether the case moves on to trial.

More at link

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.d...270321&cid=mmc

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.d...WS09/109280318

Teen mom to face trial over newborn's death <>

September 28, 2011

STOCKTON - Patricia Lopez, a teenager prosecutors say took her newborn's life, will stand trial for the child's death, San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge William Johnson determined Tuesday.

Lopez, who is being tried as an adult, has been held on charges of child abuse and premeditated murder.

Investigators have said Lopez confessed during an interview to killing the baby.

Lopez concealed her pregnancy as well as her boyfriend from her parents, who live in a Holt farming community.

Her then-boyfriend, 18-year-old Maximilano Navarro, said during a preliminary hearing that Lopez told him she had miscarried. He later learned of the baby's death when the story surfaced in the news.

This young lady should have known better. I hope she gets life in prison. She stabbed that poor baby with scissors and then took a shower while it suffered and died. And the mother wanted to be a doctor?!!!! I hope she gets life in prison instead. I'm sick of reading about these women killing their newborns. It just doesn't make any sense when you can easily give the baby up with no questions asked during it's first month of life.

Many families would have loved to adopt this precious little baby. She will have lots of time to think about what she did.
They don't like baby killers in prison.