PR: Child's Body Found In Plastic Bag

[icewater]

San Antonio Texas


SAN ANTONIO PD

Contact: Sgt. Gabriel Trevino Date: 03-07-07 Release No. 07-029

News Release

Capital Murder Investigation

On March 06, 2007, San Antonio Police responded to 1302 W. Winnipeg for a found body call (SAPD case #70-166197). When officers arrived, they were told that a plastic bag containing a young child was discovered underneath 1302 W. Winnipeg.

Neighbors discovered the bag when investigating a foul odor. Another plastic bag was discovered in the same area underneath the house, but the contents of the second bag will not be known until the medical examiner has an opportunity to conduct their investigation.

At this point in the investigation, SAPD investigators are awaiting the autopsy
results from the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office. Currently, the sex, age and identity of the child are not known. This information is preliminary with more details to follow as it becomes available.

http://www.ci.sat.tx.us/SAPD/pdf/Adv_030707.pdf

[AmyW]

SAN ANTONIO -- Police were looking to question a 19-year-old woman Wednesday after the bodies of her two young children were found wrapped in plastic bags underneath a home on the city's Southwest Side, police said.

Police were called to a triplex in the 1300 block of West Winnepeg Avenue at 7 p.m. Tuesday after residents reported smelling a foul odor that been lingering for as long as two weeks, San Antonio police spokesman Gabe Trevino said.

"At the time, they thought this still could have been an animal ... in (a) plastic bag," Trevino said. "(They) took a knife, cut the bag a little bit, and ... a child's leg came out of the bag."


A second plastic bag was taken to the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office, where a confirmation was made that the bag contained remains of a second child, police said.

The bodies were that of a 2-year-old girl and a 5-month-old boy, Trevino said.

Neighbors told police that the children's mother, Valerie Lopez, and a man named Jerry moved out of the triplex without the children about two weeks ago, Trevino said.

Tina Valdez, a sister of Lopez, told KSAT 12 News that although she hates to admit it, she believes that Lopez played a role in the deaths of her children.

"She just goes psycho sometimes," said Tina Valdez.

Valdez said that four years ago, Child Protective Services took custody of Lopez's 4- and a 5-year-old children.

"She got mad and took it out on the oldest little girl," Valdez said. "She punched her in the face. I called the cops, and that's how everything started."

Valdez added that CPS could have done more to protect her younger niece and nephew.

"If they knew how she treated the two older ones, they should have just taken these two youngest ones, because they knew her history," Valdez said.

I'm not even sure how to respond to this. I'm sickened and saddened and completely disgusted. She "goes psycho" sometimes? Okay... fine. But not on children.

[icewater]

San Antonio, Texas

Contact: Officer Joe H. Rios Date: 03-10-07 Release No. 07-033

MEDIA ADVISORY

CAPITAL MURDER ARREST
On March 6, 2007, the San Antonio Police Department began
investigating a Capital Murder at 1302 W. Winnipeg. The bodies of Sariyah
Garcia, 18 months, and Sebastian Lopez, 5 months, were found underneath
the house in separate bags. Homicide detectives immediately began a search
for the suspects listed below to determine what happened to the victims.
Early this morning, the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force located the two
suspects listed below. The suspects were arrested without incident and will
be charged with the offenses listed.
Valerie Lopez L/F 05-21-87
- Capital Murder
Jerry Salazar L/M 01-29-79
- Injury to a Child (Omission)
For Immediate Release