Elvis Alberto Lopez, 24, is charged with murder of 3-year-old girl
A Santa Barbara man has been charged with murder for allegedly killing his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter, Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch announced Wednesday.
Elvis Alberto Lopez, 24, was charged in a six-count felony complaint with the murder of 3-year-old “Jane Doe” on Feb. 4, with assault on a child causing death for the Feb. 4 incident, and with child abuse for an incident that occurred on Feb. 2, prosecutors said.
“Counts 4 through 6, the defendant is charged with three separate incidents of child abuse that allegedly occurred between Sept. 1, 2022 and Feb. 1, 2023,” prosecutors said.
Mr. Lopez is also charged with having been previously convicted of a serious and violent felony, or “strike” offense. If convicted, he would receive a second strike, according to the complaint filed against him.
He was arraigned Wednesday in front of Judge Raimondo Montes de Oca. The defendant entered pleas of not guilty and denied all special allegations. Bail was set at $4 million. The case is scheduled for preliminary hearing setting on March 2 and will be assigned to Judge Pauline Maxwell.
Santa Barbara police dispatch received a call reporting a medical emergency concerning the child at 1:33 p.m. on Feb. 4. The initial report was that a 3-year-old girl had fallen out of bed injuring herself.
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.
Based upon the police investigation, the suspect was identified as Mr. Lopez, the boyfriend of the victim’s mother.
On Saturday, an arrest warrant was authored and signed by a judge for the arrest of Mr. Lopez for Penal Code 187, Murder.
He was later contacted at his family’s residence by Santa Barbara Police Department detectives and taken into custody without incident.
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