Santa Barbara police have arrested a Santa Barbara man on suspicion of murder in the death of a 3-year-old child.
“Based upon the investigation into this heinous crime, the suspect was identified as Elvis Alberto Lopez … the boyfriend of the victim’s mother,” police Lt. Kasi Corbett said.
On Feb. 4 at 1:33 p.m., the Santa Barbara Police Department Combined Communications Center received a 9-1-1 call reporting a medical emergency.
The initial report was that a 3-year-old girl had fallen out of bed injuring herself, police said.
Santa Barbara City Fire and American Medical Response personnel were attending to the child, performing CPR when the police arrived. The child was transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where she was pronounced deceased.
Santa Barbara Police detectives with the assistance of the Santa Barbara County Coroner’s Office investigated the death. Based on the evidence gathered, the case was categorized as a homicide.
On Feb. 11, an arrest warrant was authored and signed by a judge for the arrest of Mr. Lopez, 24, on suspicion of murder.
He was contacted later at his family’s residence by Santa Barbara Police Department detectives and taken into custody without incident. He was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on $3 million bail.
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