JUNIOR LOPEZ - 7 yo (2009)/ Accused: Rachel Limon - Cottonwood CA

A Cottonwood woman accused of nearly beating to death her
boyfriend's 7-year-old son told Shasta County sheriff's detectives that
she was seeking revenge against the child's biological mother.

A sheriff's investigative report, which was made public Tuesday,
describes the horrific injuries Rachel Limon allegedly inflicted upon
the boy, known as Junior, including possibly burning his nipples and
breaking six ribs. The child also suffered a collapsed lung, the
sheriff's report said.

Furthermore, it reveals that Limon, 27, admitted to detectives to causing at least some of those injuries.

"Rachel admitted to punching the victim over the course of
approximately a week for various reasons," the sheriff's report says.
"The main reason for the abuse was out of revenge due to problems
between Rachel and (Melissa) Radford."

Radford, 27, is the boy's biological mother. She was arrested
Saturday in Sacramento on two Redding Police Department warrants
unrelated to the alleged beating.

The sheriff's report said that Limon, too, has a child with the
boy's biological father, Javier Ibarra Lopez, 29, which is a source of
tension.

But Limon denied ever having burned the child, although she did
admit to digging her fingers into his chest, punching him, tossing him
out the back door onto the deck with a 1-foot drop-off and grabbing him
on his face and neck.

"Rachel admitted she knew what she did was wrong" and kept him out
of school due to his visible injuries, the report said. She also said
that she failed to seek medical help for him, it added.

It's believed the boy would have died within 24 hours without medical treatment, the report said.

According to the sheriff's report, the boy was found Friday inside
Limon's Rhonda Road residence on a pullout mattress without sheets or
blankets and with only about 12 inches exposed on which to sleep.

The boy, who was in severe pain and could barely move, had numerous
abrasions and bruises on his face, torso and legs and had difficulty
breathing, the report said.

It also said that he suffered extensive bruising to his genitals and pelvic area.

When asked who had hurt him, the boy said, "I did it to myself," the sheriff's report said.

Limon failed to enter a plea at her arraignment Tuesday in Shasta
County Superior Court. She kept her head bowed and buried in one of her
hands as she read the criminal complaint filed against her by the
Shasta County District Attorney's Office.

Her arraignment was continued until next Tuesday so her family can try to hire Redding attorney David Wilson to represent her.

The criminal complaint charges her with attempted murder, torture, aggravated mayhem, child abuse and four related enhancements.

Her bail was set at $1.5 million.

Meanwhile, Limon's 22-year-old brother, Gregory Matthew Limon, has
been released from jail on $50,000 bail and is scheduled for
arraignment Dec. 29. He is charged with child abuse, being an accessory
and obstructing or delaying an officer, according to the criminal
complaint filed Tuesday in Shasta County Superior Court.

Rachel Limon is facing several life sentences if convicted, Deputy District Attorney Ben Hanna said.

Gregory Limon faces about six years, eight months in prison, Hanna said.

Junior has been hospitalized since Friday evening at UC Davis
Medical Center in Sacramento after an anonymous tip led deputies and
others to the Rhonda Road residence to check on his welfare.

"He's not completely out of the woods yet, but I understand that he is expected to recover," Hanna said.

He also confirmed that the boy's mother was arrested Saturday in
Sacramento after she apparently tried to visit her son at the hospital.

Those warrants charge her with violating probation and failing to
appear in Shasta County Superior Court, according to inmate information
provided by a Sacramento County Jail Web site.

Electronic Superior Court records show that bench warrants had been
issued for Radford after she repeatedly failed to appear in court on
drug and other charges.

Rachel Limon's arraignment came one day after Javier Ibarra Lopez,
Junior's father, was arraigned on charges unrelated to the beating.

He was arrested by Shasta County sheriff's deputies on Friday on
suspicion of failing to appear in Superior Court on assault and other
charges not connected with the beating, as well as for allegedly being
in the country illegally. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and
tentatively is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 29.

It's not yet known if he might be charged in the child abuse case.

Gregory Limon refused to let officers into the home when officers
arrived Friday, saying the boy wasn't there, although deputies entered
the residence anyway and found the injured boy in a bedroom, sheriff's
Sgt. Lisa Shearman has said.

The child was taken first to Mercy Medical Center in Redding where
an initial medical examination showed he had numerous serious and
life-threatening injuries, including multiple bone fractures, burns,
internal injuries, bruises and disfigurement, sheriff's Detective Billy
Cobb has said.

Criminal proceedings were reinstated Tuesday against a Cottonwood
woman accused of attempted murder and other crimes in connection with
the alleged beating of her boyfriend's 7-year-old son last year.

A Redding psychologist who evaluated Rachel Ann Limon, 27, reported that she is mentally competent to stand trial.

Shasta County Superior Judge James Ruggiero, who reimposed the
proceedings against Limon, also set a March 18 preliminary hearing for
her and her brother, Gregory Matthew Limon.The case against Rachel Limon was suspended last month after her
Redding defense attorney, David Wilson, told Ruggiero that she had been
unresponsive in his efforts to represent her.

Ruggiero appointed clinical psychologist David Wilson - no relation to the attorney - to evaluate her.

Limon, who remains in custody in Shasta County jail in lieu of $1.5
million bail, is charged with attempted murder, torture, aggravated
mayhem, child abuse and four related enhancements.


Rachel Limon

She and her brother, who is accused of child abuse, being an
accessory and obstructing or delaying an officer, were arrested Dec. 11
after sheriff's deputies went to their Rhonda Road residence in
response to an anonymous report that a severely abused child was there.

The badly injured child was found in a bedroom and it's believed
that he would have died within 24 hours without medical treatment, a
Shasta County sheriff's investigative report says.

Nicknamed "The Christmas Boy" by two Shasta County women who
established a fund for him, the child suffered six broken ribs and a
collapsed lung. He is now in foster care.

Sheriff's investigators have said that Rachel Limon admitted to
having inflicted some of the boy's injuries, describing her actions as
an act of revenge against the boy's biological mother.

Rachel Limon is facing several life sentences if convicted and
Gregory Limon, who is out of jail on $50,000 bail, faces about six
years, eight months in prison if convicted of the charges against him,
Senior Deputy District Attorney Ben Hanna has said.

The man facing charges in a well-known Shasta County child abuse case is now wanted as a suspect in a stabbing in Anderson.



Shasta County Sheriff's Investigators say they think Gregory Limon and 33-year-old Alfonso Flores were arguing at a Rhonda Road home early Monday morning, and that Limon stabbed Flores.Flores is going to recover, but officials say they want to talk to Limon to get his side of the story.Gregory is the brother of Rachel Limon, who is accused of beating her boyfriend's seven year old son and is waiting to go to trial. Gregory faces charges of obstructing officers who came to check on the child.Authorities say Rachel admitted beating the boy over a week long stretch last December to get back at the boy's mother.The young child is affectionately known as the "Christmas boy". When Sheriff's Deputies found him, the boy had broken bones, burns on his body and a collapsed lung. Doctors said if the boy had gone untreated for one more day, he may have died.

Lovely family! This poor child would never have had a chance. I hope at least one good thing comes out of this tragedy and he can be with a loving law abiding family for the rest of his childhood.

A Shasta County woman will go to trial for the attempted murder of a seven-year-old boy.
A Shasta County Superior Court Judge denied motion to suppress evidence and dismiss the case against Rachel Limon.
The lawyer argued the search of her Rhonda Road home was illegal because it was based on an anonymous tip and done without sufficient probable cause.
But the judge disagreed after hearing from the sheriff deputies who found the boy battered and bruised inside her home last December.
Two social workers also testified Friday. Deputies were responding to a tip called into Child Protective Services.
In his ruling, the judge noted the initial report was made by a confidential informant, not an anonymous person.
He also said, given the situation, deputies had more than enough cause to enter the home without a warrant.
The boy suffered life-threatening injuries including multiple fractures, burns and severe internal injuries.
28-year-old Limon was dating the boy's father and had legal custody of the child.
According to an investigative report she admitted to beating the boy out of revenge, because she was angry with his biological mother. Rachel Limon is charged with attempted murder, torture and child abuse.
Deputies say her brother, Gregory Limon, initially tried to keep them out of the house and denied the child was there.
He's charged with child abuse, being an accessory and obstructing an officer.
The seven-year-old spent several weeks in the hospital before being released into foster care.
The Limons are due to stand trial November 30th but Rachel Limon's attorney says he plans to seek a change of venue to get the trial moved out of Shasta County.

REDDING, Calif. -- Jury deliberations in the trial of Gregory Limon started Wednesday afternoon.Gregory
Limon faces up to seven years for child abuse, being an accessory, and
delaying deputies after a seven-year old boy he was taking care of was
found brutally beaten in a Cottonwood home in 2009.Limon chose
not to take the stand Wednesday. He made the decision after his
attorney, Cedar Vaughan argued criminal immunity for his girlfriend
Yisbi Manzo if she took the stand. But the judge denied it.Ben Hannah, the Shasta County Assistant District Attorney started closing statements.Hannah
told the jury that Limon told law enforcement a series of lies the day
the young boy was found because he cared more about protecting himself
then getting medical treatment for the boy.He then told the jury
that with the evidence presented it would defy logic and common sense to
find Limon not guilty of the charges.Vaughan responded by
telling the jury that although Limon initially denied seeing the boy
when deputies asked, he was cooperative with them and wasn’t trying to
hide what his sister, Rachel Limon was responsible for.She also
told the jury that when Limon saw the boy he only saw minor scars on the
young child's face, not the extensive bruises that covered his body.
Vaughan argued Limon had no idea that the boy was so close to death.Jury deliberations will continue Friday.
http://www.krcrtv.com/news/29668264/detail.html

I hope justice is served for this poor boy. When is the trial for the witch that almost beat him to death? And where in the heck was the father during all the beatings? The articles are a bit confusing but maybe he was in jail? This poor kid didn't have a chance. Thank God and he made and like Kiki, I hope he has a better life and is treated with love and kindness.

Sentencing was delayed for the Cottonwood man convicted of child abuse.Gregory
Limon was found guilty in November for child abuse, being an accessory
to a crime and delaying an officer for a child beating that occurred in
December of 2009.Sentencing was delayed because prosecuting deputy district attorney, Benn Hanna, had a family emergency.His sentencing has been rescheduled for Jan. 3.This is the second time Limon's sentencing has been pushed back. He was originally scheduled to be sentenced on November 28.Shasta
County chief deputy district attorney Brian Popkes said delaying
sentencing is necessary in cases like this if the prosecuting DA can't
make it.Popkes said, "Anytime you have a case of this severity
and this complexity it's always important that you try to have the same
prosecutor handle it from beginning to end. It wouldn't benefit the
people or the victims or the court to have an attorney that hasn't been
familiar with the case throughout to handle the sentencing."The
beaten boy was seven years old at the time, suffered from 13 broken
ribs, multiple fractures to his arms, and internal bleeding. The boy is
now 10 years old and in foster care.Limon's sister, Rachel Limon, will stand trial on Jan 10. for her role in the 2009 beating.

http://www.krcrtv.com/news/30033794/detail.html

A Cottonwood-area woman accused of nearly beating a 7-year-old boy to
death in 2009 lost her bid Monday to have her high-profile case thrown out.

Shasta County Superior Court Judge William Gallagher rejected a
defense motion filed on behalf of Rachel Ann Limon, 29, to dismiss the
case, presumably clearing the way for her trial to begin April 10. That
trial is expected to take about four weeks.

The criminal case has seen numerous delays and continuances since
Limon's arrest, and Gallagher said it's time for it to go to trial.

"The case has gone on longer than it should have," he said.

Limon, who has shown little emotion in court since her Dec. 11, 2009
arrest, bowed her head and wept after Gallagher denied the defense
motion filed by Redding criminal defense attorney John Webster.

During Monday's brief court hearing, Webster argued that evidence and
testimony provided during Limon's 2010 preliminary hearing were not
sufficient to have his client stand trial on attempted murder and mayhem charges.

Some of the boy's reported injuries, Webster claimed, occurred months or years ago and were not at the hands of his client.

But Gallagher said the preliminary hearing transcripts did not
support Webster's claims, although he stressed that the defense attorney
certainly could try to argue at trial that the boy's injuries were not inflicted by Limon.

Limon, 29, was arrested in late 2009 after sheriff's deputies, acting
on a tip, went to her Rhonda Road mobile home and found the severely
injured child in a bedroom.

Investigators have said the boy — who had 10 broken ribs, a lacerated
spleen and liver, two broken vertebrae and a collapsed lung — would
have died within a day had he not been treated by a doctor.Limon has
pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and faces life in prison if
convicted of the charges against her.

Her brother, Gregory Matthew Limon, 24, was sentenced earlier this
year to six years in prison after being convicted of child abuse in
connection with the same case.
http://www.redding.com/news/2012/mar/05/judge-refuses-to-dismiss-child-abuse-charges/

I hope this monster child beater gets life in prison. She almost killed this precious child and deserves no less than life.

What a horrible family situation Junior lived in. I hope that he ends up in a loving adopted home. He will be scarred for the rest of his life because of his awful family.

After numerous delays, a Cottonwood-area woman accused of beating a
7-year-old boy almost to death in 2009 will begin standing trial today
in Shasta County Superior Court on criminal charges that could land her
in prison for the rest of her life if she's convicted.

Superior Court Judge William Gallagher Monday rejected an 11th-hour
effort to relieve Redding defense attorney John Webster as Rachel Ann
Limon's lawyer after he met with them for about 30 minutes in a closed
courtroom hearing.

Webster told Gallagher he's feeling better after having said last
week that he was under the weather. He said in open court following
Monday's hearing that Limon and her family have lost confidence in his
representation of her, but did not elaborate.

With jury selection scheduled to begin today, Gallagher is hoping the
trial will fully get under way on April 17 with opening statements and
the presentation of evidence.

That day would be Limon's 30th birthday.

It's estimated that Limon's trial will take between six to eight
weeks, but Webster believes it could take much longer due to the
high-profile nature of the case and the potential difficulty in seating a jury.

With that in mind, Gallagher said he would entertain a change of
venue motion if it becomes clear a jury could not be selected here.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Ben Hanna has said it only took four
days to pick a jury in the trial of Rachel Limon's 24-year-old brother,
Gregory, who was sentenced earlier this year to six years in prison
after being convicted of child abuse in connection with the same case.

Gregory Limon is to be returned from High Desert State Prison in Susanville to testify in his sister's defense.

Rachel Limon is charged with attempted murder, torture, aggravated
mayhem and child abuse, as well as four related enhancements, in the
beating of a child in late 2009.

She was arrested in late 2009 after sheriff's deputies, acting on a
tip, went to her Rhonda Road mobile home and found the severely injured
child in a bedroom.

Limon, who was the girlfriend of the boy's father, was the child's legal guardian
at the time of the alleged beating.

Sheriff's detectives have said she admitted to having caused some of
the boy's wounds as a way to get revenge against the boy's biological mother.

Investigators have said the boy — who had 10 broken ribs, a lacerated
spleen and liver, two broken vertebrae and a collapsed lung — would
have died within a day had he not been treated by a doctor.

Webster has said, however, that some of the boy's reported injuries
may have occurred many months earlier and were not at the hands of his client.

Limon has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but Webster said Monday his client may withdraw her insanity plea.

He said he has not yet had the opportunity to talk with her about that
http://www.redding.com/news/2012/apr/09/rachel-limon-trial-begins-today/

Jury selection started Tuesday morning for the woman accused of beating a young Cottonwood boy nearly to death.It happened back in 2009.The victim, who's also known as the "Christmas Boy," was seven years old at the time.He suffered 13 broken ribs, fractures to his arms, and internal bleeding.Rachel Limon, who was his guardian at the time, is charged with attempted murder, as well as torture and child abuse.Limon refused to come to court for the first part of the day.We were able to catch up with Limon's mom, Donda Corona.She
told us Limon didn't want to come to court because of their attorney,
who she says has not done enough over the past two years.We did try and reach out to the attorney, but he didn't want to talk.When
we asked Corona how it makes her feel to see her own daughter going
through this process, she told us "it's not good. I know what people
think, but it's not right. I know what the people think about it, but
they don't know the whole story."Corona said the boy was injured
when he crashed his motorcycle and that the only thing her daughter is
guilty of is spanking him.She went on to say Limon even bought the boy a new bike after the accident.Corona told us, "my daughter just tried to do whatever she could for the child. He was spoiled and everything."The victim is now 10 years old and has been adopted.Rachel's
brother, 24-year-old Gregory Limon, was sentenced to six years in
prison in January for child abuse, being an accessory to a crime and
delaying an officer.Jury selection is set to continue Wednesday.

http://www.krcrtv.com/news/30870084/detail.html

Nearly two-and-a-half years after her arrest, Rachel Limon's attempted murder trial begins in Redding.Opening
arguments were scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday. She's charged in the
near-fatal beating of the 7-year-old child who became known as the
Christmas Boy.Limon was guardian of the child who was the son of
her boyfriend. They lived in a trailer on Rhonda Road in Cottonwood in
December 2009. A tip led deputies to perform a welfare check on the
child. They discovered the boy in a back bedroom with serious injuries
including 13 broken ribs, fractured arms, a collapsed lung and internal
bleeding. Doctors said he would have died within one day if he went
untreated.A jury was seated Wednesday after more than a week of
jury selection. Limon is charged with attempted murder, torture and
child abuse.In January, Limon's brother Gregory was sentenced to 6
years in prison for child abuse, being an accessory to a crime and
delaying an officer.

http://www.krcrtv.com/news/30922633/detail.html