Baby Brianna

Baby Brianna was born on Valentines day in 2002 in Las Cruces, New Mexico. She died at the age of five-months and five days old, on July 19, 2002 at the hands of her mother Stephanie Lopez, her father ,Andy Walters, and her uncle ,Steven Lopez, due to severe child abuse.

Baby Brianna was horrifically abused almost from the instant she left the hospital after she was born until the day of her death. On a daily basis she was slapped, kicked, punched, thrown, and raped by her father, Andrew Walters, and Uncle, Steven Lopez. Her mother Stephanie Lopez, Stephanie’s parents, and other family members were aware of the horrific abuse Baby Brianna was enduring, but not one of them said or did anything about it. In fact, Stephanie’s mother would later testify that Stephanie would pinch and bite baby Brianna when she became frustrated with her crying and that she was aware that her infant Granddaughter was being beaten, raped, pinched, punched, bite, and thrown around but “didn’t want to get involved”.

July 18, 2002

On the night of July 18, 2002, Stephanie, Andy, and Steven began drinking. Stephanie claims that she only had a few beers before heading off to bed, leaving Andy and Steven in the living room, where they continued drinking. After Stephanie went for bed, Andy and Steven thought it would be funny to toss Brianna up in the air, let her hit the ceiling, and then watch her hit the ground. It is not known how long their sick game continued but the father admits to “throwing her up three to four times”. Both men told authorities that Brianna was screaming and wailing as the abuse continued. Stephanie claims she did not hear anything that evening. It was later discovered during police interrogations that Steven Lopez, admitted that