Isabel Garcia, the daughter of Lupe Lopez and Gabriel Garcia, died on May 19, 2008 from malnutrition. She was just two years old.
Now the parents, who reside in Pomona, will be paying the consequences as they were both sentenced to prison last Thursday. They pleaded no contest to child abuse. The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reports that the child had bruises and cuts on her body; as well as injuries to the toes at the time of her death.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Ms. Lupe Lopez was originally charged with murder. However, Ms. Lopez was able to plead no contest to three counts of child abuse and have her murder charge dropped through a plea deal. She was sentenced to 12 years and 8 months in prison.
The father of the child, Mr. Garcia, was also seen as partially responsible for the death of his daughter. This was in spite of the fact that he had been in jail on unrelated charges for three weeks prior to Isabel Garcia's death, according to Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. He pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse and was sentenced to 6 years in prison.
This child abuse case is a bit extreme, even for a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer. However, the harsh sentences of Mr. Garcia and Ms. Lopez show how the Los Angeles courts and the state of California see felony child abuse as a severe crime. If either Mr. Garcia and Ms. Lopez were convicted of their original charge of murder they could have faced a much harsher sentence of life in prison.
Related Resources:
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Child Abuse Laws State-by-State (FindLaw)
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Child Abuse (LawBrain)
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