JEREMY SILVA - 1 yo (2010) - Tyler TX

Mother charged with endangerment after child dies

Nov. 24, 2010, 11:10AM

TYLER, Texas — Tyler police have charged a 19-year-old woman with endangering a child after her 1-year-old son was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Police spokesman Don Martin told the Tyler Morning Telegraph that Emma Torres left the boy and another child at home alone while her boyfriend took her to work Tuesday. Martin says the boy was pronounced dead on arrival at Mother Frances Hospital after being taken there by an aunt. He said the woman had been contacted by the boyfriend. Martin says the boy showed signs of physical abuse. The cause of death has not yet been determined and an autopsy has been ordered. Martin says the other child is 4 years old. He declined to say whether that child showed signs of abuse.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7309798.html

Mother arrested for abandonment after death of child

TYLER, TX (KLTV) - A one year old boy is dead after what police say could be physical abuse. Early this morning, the boy, Jeremy Silva, was picked up by his aunt from his house on North Ross Street in Tyler. The aunt took Jeremy to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police tell us Jeremy's mother, Emma Torres, left her two children alone in her home on Ross street while her boyfriend drove her to work in Lindale. Tyler Police charged 19 year old Torres with abandoning or endangering a child which is a state jail felony.

Police are continuing to interview witnesses. The investigation will hinge on Silva's autopsy which will be done in Dallas. Child Protective Services has taken Silva's four year old child into custody.
http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13559853

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Update: Police locate car in capital murder suspect search
Update 11/29/10: The Tyler Police Department have located the 1995 gray Lincoln Town Car believed to have been driven by Simon Lopez, who is accused of killing a Tyler toddler by beating him in the chest, causing a torn atrium in his heart.

Officers still have not located Simon Lopez. A $1,000.00 reward is being offered by Crime Stoppers for information leading to his arrest.

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story courtesy of the Tyler Morning Telegraph
by Kenneth Dean
Staff Writer

The search has expanded for a man accused of killing a 1-year-old Tyler boy by beating him in the chest and causing a torn atrium in the heart.

Tyler Police Department's Public Information Officer Don Martin said his agency needs the public's help in locating 26-year-old Simon Lopez who is wanted in connection with the death of Jeremy Silva.

Martin said a nationwide teletype has been sent out with the information regarding Lopez and the vehicle he may be driving.

Silva was taken by family members to Mother Frances Hospital Tuesday where he was declared dead. Police soon began their investigation and ordered an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Martin said detectives received word from the Southwest Institute of Forensic Sciences earlier Wednesday that the cause of death was from a torn atrium in his heart, as a result of blunt force trauma to his chest.

"The report also indicated that Jeremy had suffered prior abuse, including several broken ribs and previous bruising to his body," he said.

A source within the Child Protective Services said Wednesday the child had bruises of different stages of healing on his head, ears, neck and groin area.

Martin said detectives have obtained the arrest warrant for capital murder on Lopez, and bond was set at $2 million by Judge Jack Skeen Jr.

Martin said Lopez is the boyfriend of the child's mother Emma Torres and he lived with her and the children at 114 N. Ross Ave.

Ms. Torres was arrested by police Tuesday after the investigation determined she left Jeremy and his 4-year-old sibling alone at the residence while Lopez took her to work in Lindale Tuesday morning.

Martin said Wednesday the woman's arrest on charges of endangering and abandonment was not connected to the actual death of the child, but he added the investigation is ongoing.

Martin said police have not been able to locate Lopez, and request the public's help with any information on his whereabouts.

Lopez is believed to be driving a 1995 gray, Lincoln Town Car, 4-door, with Texas license plate BZ9P316

Lopez has connections with a local street gang and is still awaiting trial on six counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapons charge after a drive by shooting in June 2009.

Smith County records indicate Lopez was just released from jail on charges of assault causing injury.

Please contact the Tyler Police Department at 531-1000 or Crime Stoppers at 597-2833 with any information you may have concerning this case.
http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=13569501

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Search continues for suspected baby killer
[...]Tyler Police released a statement, Wednesday stating 1-year-old Jeremy Silva died from a torn atrium in his heart, as a result of blunt force trauma to his chest. He'd been left alone with his 4-year-old brother while his mother went to work in Lindale.

The autopsy report also indicated that Jeremy had suffered prior abuse, including several broken ribs and previous bruising to his body.

Investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Capital Murder on Simon Lopez, H/M, 08/05/1984 (26), of Tyler.[...]
http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13564444


Jeremy Silva & Brother From Mom's Myspace

Man suspected of killing infant added to most-wanted list

June 10, 2011
(CNN) -- A man suspected of killing a 1-year-old child in Texas last year is among the U.S. Marshals' most wanted fugitives, the service announced Friday.

The federal agency added Simon Lopez, 26, to its "15 Most Wanted" list and cautioned the public that he is "considered armed and extremely violent."

Authorities allege that Lopez strangled and beat his girlfriend's son, Jeremy Silva, while babysitting her two children in November.

Lopez contacted Jeremy's aunt on November 23, claiming that the boy wasn't breathing, and dropped him off at her house, according to a statement released by the U.S. Marshals Service. Jeremy was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead because of blunt-force trauma to his chest. His ribs were broken, and he had severe bruising on his body, the statement said.

"No criminal act is more disturbing than committing violence against a child, especially when the injuries inflicted are fatal," said Geoffrey Shank, an acting assistant director of the U.S. Marshals Service.

"(Lopez's) addition to the 15 Most Wanted program will enact all available resources to bring this violent fugitive to justice."

Lopez evaded police when they tried to catch him in a Dallas hotel in December, the U.S. Marshals said.

Lopez has previous arrests for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, theft, assault causing bodily injury and possession of marijuana, they said.

The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $25,000 reward for any information that leads directly to Lopez's arrest.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/06/10/texas.most.wanted/

Suspect in Tyler boy’s beating death caught in Mexico months after near-capture in Dallas

01 August 2011
Authorities say a man sought in the November death of his girlfriend's year-old son has been caught in Mexico and returned to East Texas.

Simon Lopez of Tyler, who was arrested last week in Queretaro, was being held on a capital murder charge in the Smith County Jail, with bail set at $2 million.

Police say Lopez was watching Jeremy Silva of Tyler while the child's mother worked. He called one of her relatives to say the boy wasn't breathing, then left the boy with the relative and fled, authorities say.

Autopsy results show the toddler died from blunt force trauma.

In December, Dallas police tried to serve an arrest warrant for Lopez at a hotel. As officers approached the suspect’s room with their guns drawn, a man matching Lopez’s description suddenly appeared and grabbed one of their guns.

The officer fired and the suspect ran away, police said. No one was injured.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/headlines/20110801-suspect-in-tyler-boys-beating-death-caught-in-mexico-months-after-near-capture-in-dallas.ece

A Smith County Grand Jury has handed up indictments for the murder of an East Texas infant.

Indicted Tuesday afternoon on one count of capital murder, were Simon
Lopez and the baby's mother, Emma Torres. Smith County District
Attorney Matt Bingham confirmed this to KLTV Tuesday. Bingham would not
go into detail on why Torres was indicted on capital murder charges.

Until Tuesday, Torres only faced a charge of child endangerment for
the death of one-year-old Jeremy Silva. Silva was found beaten to death
in the couple's Tyler home in late November 2010.

Torres claimed she left the infant at home with Lopez while she was
at work. As of Tuesday night, both Torres and Lopez were in the Smith
County Jail.

Torres' bond is set at $2,000,000.

After running from law enforcement and allegedly assaulting a Dallas
Police Officer on Christmas Eve 2010, the U.S. Marshal's Office captured
Lopez in Mexico this summer.

http://www.kltv.com/story/15455191/babys-mother-indicted-in-simon-lopez-murder-case

Baby Jeremy.....The time is nearing my love! I love you and miss you. You may be with god but you are always in my heart and on my mind. I know you will never be hurt again my love. I am so lost and empty without having you in our lifes. But grandma promises you that this horrific act against you will not go unpunished. So many people have worked long and hard to get the bad people behind bars and I have faith that justice will be served. I am just sorry it has taken so long but they too will suffer. God Bless and keep you in his arms my angel you have my heart forever and ever.

More Time Granted In Lopez Case

By DAYNA WORCHEL, Staff Writer
Posted 12:24 am Saturday, May 05, 2012

A Smith County judge said Friday he will allow more time for attorneys to decide whether a Tyler man accused of capital murder was expelled from Mexico or extradited after he was arrested — something that will help determine if the death penalty is sought.

Rick Hagan, the defense attorney for Simon Lopez, 27, said he needed more time to read a letter from the Attorney General’s Office in Mexico, where Lopez was arrested in July, to make sure Lopez was deported from Mexico and not extradited. Hagan said in court that it is a violation of the extradition treaty between the U.S. and Mexico for Mexico to extradite someone who might face the death penalty.

Judge Kerry Russell, of the 7th District Court, said he would schedule another hearing for July 16 for the District Attorney’s Office to announce its decision. Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham said he had no objection to the request from Hagan.

“We have no documents saying he was expelled, we just know he was,” Bingham said in court.

Simon Lopez, 27, has been charged with capital murder in the death of 18-month-old Jeremy Silva in July. Lopez was babysitting Silva and another child while their mother, his girlfriend, was at work, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. He reportedly contacted the boy’s aunt and told her he was not breathing. Silva was dropped off with the aunt, where he was taken to the emergency room and pronounced dead, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

The boy’s mother, Emma Torres, 19, also has been charged with capital murder, but the District Attorney’s Office is not seeking the death penalty for her. Both are being held in the Smith County Jail on $2 million bond each. Ms. Torres also appeared in court on Friday and will be back May 25 for more scheduling dates to be set.

Hagan explained that he wanted a better understanding of how his client had come into the U.S. from Mexico.

“If there’s no record of him being extradited, he did not voluntarily come back to this country,” Hagan said to Russell. The defense attorney said he recently learned that U.S. Marshals learned his client was in Mexico from someone incarcerated in Virginia.

Hagan said he was still not sure what had happened and what agencies were involved in Lopez’s arrest and his being brought back to the U.S. from Mexico. “I want to know if Mexican law or international law was violated,” Hagan said. He added that even if there was not a paper trail of what happened with his client, there would still be a “people trail.”

Bingham said on Friday that Lopez is not a Mexican national.

“Mexican officials contacted U.S. Marshals who flew to Mexico to pick up Lopez — Smith County detectives picked him up in Houston and drove him back to Smith County.”

In an April 25 hearing, Bingham said in court that the Mexican Attorney General’s Office agreed it would not be a violation of the Mexican extradition treaty with the U.S. to seek the death penalty for Simon Lopez, 27. Bingham said in court that Lopez was expelled from Mexico and had not been extradited.

In August, Bingham said his office might seek the death penalty for Lopez. Bingham said earlier there is a treaty between the United States and Mexico about extraditions in capital cases in which the death penalty may be applied. Mexico will not extradite someone to the United States if they could receive the death penalty, even if they are a U.S. citizen, Bingham had said. Lopez is a U.S. citizen.

Russell said a trial for Lopez will be set for early 2013.

There is a restrictive and protective order now in place, which prevents any further comments on the cases, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Autopsy results released in November revealed Silva died from heart damage resulting from blunt force trauma to the chest, according to information from police.

Doctors also noticed other signs of abuse, including strangulation, broken ribs and severe bruising, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20120505/NEWS01/120509898

Darla*Silva wrote:Baby Jeremy.....The time is nearing my love! I love you and miss you. You may be with god but you are always in my heart and on my mind. I know you will never be hurt again my love. I am so lost and empty without having you in our lifes. But grandma promises you that this horrific act against you will not go unpunished. So many people have worked long and hard to get the bad people behind bars and I have faith that justice will be served. I am just sorry it has taken so long but they too will suffer. God Bless and keep you in his arms my angel you have my heart forever and ever.

I'm so sorry for your loss. May justice be served and I pray God helps your heart begin to heal.