The Misery Machine - Brianna Lopez: Buried In A Cage [GRAPHIC]

Episode Date: October 10, 2021

This week, Drewby and Yergy travel down to Las Cruces, New Mexico, to discuss the tragic story of Brianna Lopez, an infant that suffered unimaginable torment at the hands of her own mother, father, and uncle - and the unique way that prosecutors chose to preserve her memory. A very special thank you to Levi for supporting our show as our highest tier patron! Levi's Fundraising Page: https://gofund.me/6b9e4f07 Support Our Patreon For More Unreleased Content: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine Buy Us A Coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/miserymachine Join Our Facebook Group to Request a Topic: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast Discord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM #themiserymachine #podcast #truecrime Source Material: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/16540575/brianna-mariah-lopez https://morbidology.com/the-ultimate-betrayal-brianna-lopez/ http://www.angelizdsplace.com/child103.htm https://www.maryhallbergmedia.com/post/the-murder-of-brianna-lopez-solved https://www.thechildrenswalloftears.org/brianna-lopez-5-months-killed https://www.facebook.com/HonoringBabyBrianna/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/107753225910978/ https://m.facebook.com/nt/screen/?params=%7B%22note_id%22%3A10158387155010860%7D&path=%2Fnotes%2Fnote%2F&_rdr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susana_Martinez https://ripeace.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/the-worst-case-of-child-abuse-in-us-history-the-murder-of-baby-brianna/ http://brianna-lopez.last-memories.com/lifestory

Hi, we're the Misery Machine. I'm Yergy. And I'm Drewby. And this week, we were covering a case that's been requested more times than we can count. And that's the Brianna Lopez case. And for our more sensitive listeners, this case is pretty horrific. It has some very graphic details with regards to harm of a child. So, you're disquestion, beware.

Yeah, it's one of the worst cases I've ever heard in my entire life. And that's saying something because we've covered some pretty terrible cases. But if you're listening on YouTube, please hit like and subscribe. this is the best way to support our channel so we can keep these episodes coming out to you. Without further ado, the case of Brianna Lopez. For many young families, bringing a newborn baby home from the hospital is an occasion to be celebrated. Often documented with newborn photography sessions and social media posts chronicling your new one's first days here on earth.

While parents get through the jitters of nursing, first diaper changes, and getting accustomed to sleepless nights, there's still so much love to be shared watching such a tiny being begin to develop and grow. Unfortunately, this cannot be said for the subject of today's case. Brianna Mariah Lopez was born on February 14, 2002 to Stephanie Lopez and Andy Walters. One would think this baby born on Valentine's Day would be thought of as a gift to be loved and cherished. After being discharged from the hospital, Brianna moved into a trailer with her parents and her uncle, Stephen Lerner. Lopez. Living conditions were quite cramped. Also residing in the small trailers were two other

children and three other adults, including her paternal grandmother Patricia Walters and her uncle Robert Walters Jr. Brianna was abused nearly every day of her life. It started off with adults screaming at her and pinching her tiny body while she was crying. Brianna only cried out in more pain and the abuse soon escalated to kicking and punching as well. well as being tossed about by those who are supposed to be loving and caring for her. Stephanie ignored Brianna's cries for help as Andy and Stephen laughed at her pain. But when Stephanie herself would become tired and frustrated of her infant daughter's cries, she too would begin her abuse on her own baby by pinching and biting her delicate skin.

But the worst, if you can imagine such a thing, was yet to come. Her father, Andy and her uncle Stephen began to rape and sodomize her tiny body when Brianna was just mere weeks old. On July 18th, 2002, just five months and four days after baby Brianna was born, her hell on earth ordeal was over. That evening, Andy Walters got off work around 5 p.m. and arrived home around 6 p.m. At about 8 p.m., he picked up Stephen Lopez at work. They went to buy a case of beer and then returned home.

Andy, Stephen, and Stephanie spent the rest of the evening at home with Brianna. Stephanie claims she drank two or three beers before falling asleep around 10 p.m. Stephen would later say that Stephanie drank five or six beers. After Stephanie went to bed, Andy and Stephen decided to play a little game with Brianna, in which they would toss her up into the air so that her body would hit a moving ceiling fan. And then they would let the five-month-old fall to the floor. Andy and Stephen later explained to police that Brianna would scream and cry out in horror. horror, which made them laugh. It was discovered during police interrogations that Stephen Lopez,

her uncle, later in the evening, began to sodomize Brianna, but stopped because he, quote, realized what he was doing was wrong, end quote. The following morning, Stephanie awoke and found Brianna crying, which wasn't anything particularly odd for a baby. However, there were fresh cuts and bruises all over Brianna's body. And when Stephanie questioned Andy about it. He claimed that he had played a little rough with her and offered to change her diaper. Andy Walters, Brianna's own father, wrapped a baby wipe around his finger, and then began to sodomize Brianna's bruised body. By mid-morning, Brianna was on the verge of death after Stephanie noticed she wasn't breathing. Some sources state that Stephanie first called Brianna's grandmother

before phoning emergency services, and that Andy and Stephen attempted CPR. Either way, an ambulance was finally called, and Stephanie claimed that Brianna had fallen from her high chair. Brianna was taken to Memorial Medical Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico. There were several attempts at resuscitating her, all of which failed. Sadly, it was too late, and Brianna Lopez was pronounced dead at 11.10 a.m. Stephanie told hospital staff that Brianna had been hurt falling out of bed, but the autopsy results said otherwise. Brianna died from cranial cerebral injuries. She suffered 13 human bite marks throughout her entire body,

bruising and scraping injuries throughout her head, as well as on her upper forehead. She suffered a blunt force injury to her head and in the last three days or less of her life, which resulted in a large, subdural hematoma on her brain. Brianna had bleeding within the membranes around the brain as well as around her optic nerves, which meant that she had been violently shaken. Brianna's skull had five to seven day old fractures in two places on two different bones. Both old and new blood were present, indicating a previous injury to the brain. Brianna had two rib fractures that were weeks old, bucket handle fractures on her thigh bones, both of them, and a fracture of her left arm. Additionally, she had a significant injury to her buttocks, which was consistent with sexual assault.

Brianna's anus had no muscle tone and was gaped open, and at her autopsy, it was observed that her anal opening was dilated a full inch. The internal examination showed a half-inch injury inside the anal opening, as well as significant vaginal trauma to the labia minor, and three tears to her hymen. The medical examiners listed Brianna's death as homicide. Andy Walters was charged with child abuse resulting in death and criminal sexual penetration of a minor. Stephanie and Stephen Lopez were charged with child abuse resulting in death. The other three adults living in the home were not charged, and the other two children living in the home were taken into protective custody. Shortly thereafter, two more family members were arrested in connection with Brianna's murder. Her grandmother, Patricia Walters, and her uncle, Robert Walters, Jr., were both charged with failure to report child abuse or child neglect.

The trial was moved to Albuquerque, about three and a half hour drive north because the media coverage in Las Cruces. The initial witnesses to testify were the 911 dispatcher and the ER nurse who attempted to save Brianna's life to no avail. Excerpts from the 911 call from Stephanie were played in court, in which she stated that Brianna was not breathing in that, she fell off the bed. The 911 dispatcher instructed Stephanie on how to perform CPR and to check for a pulse, to which Stephanie replied, I can't feel anything. The ER nurse described the extensive bite marks and the bruising that littered Brianna's face, head, and body, and how the poor child was too far gone. She went on to share that before Stephanie was taken into police custody, she was allowed to see Brianna's body. She said that Stephanie asked to hold Brianna, and as she cradle,

her deceased child, she repeatedly said, I'm so sorry. Afterwards, Stephanie asked if she could cover Brianna's bruises and then proceeded to cover Brianna's entire body except for her eyes. The detective assigned to the case described an interview he had with Brianna's uncle Stephen following his arrest. He stated that Stephen had admitted to raping Brianna and throwing her up in the air and allowing her to come crashing down on the floor. He asked Stephen, quote, did you have sex with baby Brianna? End quote. To which Stephen replied, yes.

When discussing how he and Andy threw Brianna up in the air, he said, quote, we were just playing with her, end quote. A forensic dentist shared the 13 bite marks found in Brianna's body came from at least two different adults. However, he could not identify

who inflicted the wounds as the bite marks were not distinct enough to match them to dental records or imprints taken from any of the defendants. A crime lab analyst, then testified that tests indicated that blood found in Andy's underwear had come from Brianna. Andy's lawyer said it was unlikely that four people had all committed murder, and that there was no physical evidence to tie Andy or Stephen to a crime. But thankfully, the jury disagreed with that

notion. On September 12, 2003, after deliberating for about a day, all five defendants were found guilty of the charges against them. Andy Walters was found guilty of child abuse, resulting in death, criminal sexual penetration of a minor, child abuse not resulting in great bodily harm and conspiracy to commit child abuse resulting in death. He was later sentenced to 57 years in prison. Stephen Lopez was found guilty of child abuse resulting in death, criminal sexual penetration of a minor, and conspiracy. He was later sentenced to 51 years in prison. Stephanie Lopez was found guilty of negligent child abuse resulting in death and negligent child abuse, not a misconduct not not resulting in great bodily harm.

She was later sentenced to 27 years in prison, but was released from prison in 2016 for good behavior. So she's currently out on the street right now. Patricia and Robert Walters were found guilty of failing to report child abuse. They were sentenced to just 60 days in jail. I have heard of petty theft cases, getting longer sentences than that. Brianna Lopez was buried at Donya Anna Cemetery in Las Cruces, New Mexico. None of her family claimed her body, so her community crowdfunded her casket, burial, and funeral.

Her gravesite soon became overwhelmed with flowers, toys, and other mementos of love. However, to add insult to injury, Brianna's family, who couldn't be bothered to claim her body, installed a large chain cage over her gravesite so that visitors could no longer bring gifts. However, this didn't stop the community. and soon the cage was decorated yet again with flowers, toys, balloons, and other mementos. Additionally, the Remember Me Foundation installed a large wooden bench in her memory. A petition to remove the cage, circulated the internet, and received over 200,000 signatures from people all over the world. The groundskeeper of the cemetery did eventually agree to rip down the fence by the grave so that the Remember Me Foundation bench could be built.

However, based on the photographs that we found online, the cage still stands. to this day. However, some sources state that it had been opened up allowing for the grave to be cleaned of debris. In 2005, Senate Bill 166, also known as the Baby Brianna Bill, was officially signed into law by Governor Bill Richardson. The bill made child abuse, which results in death a first-degree felony in New Mexico, and set the mandatory minimum sentence to 30 years in prison. Prior to this, it had only been 18 years. Unfortunately, the bill cannot be enacted retroactively, so it does not apply to baby Brianna's killers or her mother. Though given the age of Brianna's father and uncle, they very well might be in prison for the rest of their lives. It should be noted that not a single picture of

baby Brianna exists in life. The only picture taken of Brianna was of her deceased, laying on a mortuary table, covered in bruises. However, Detective Linda Wright, who served on Brianna's case, kept another version of the photograph as a memento. He stated, quote, before they started the autopsy, her little face was lying on a white sheet and I thought, she looks asleep. So I just took the picture and airbrushed the photo to see what Brianna would have looked like if she were still alive, end quote. The retouched picture hung on the wall of former governor Susanna Martinez's office while she was the deputy district attorney of Donya Anna County. I want people to let that sink in for a little bit that there were no pictures of

Brianna that did not have some sort of bruise or mark or wound on her. Nothing existed. They never took. The family never took any pictures of her. The only way that a picture of her even exists is because this detective felt bad enough to Photoshop wounds out of her dead body. I can't think of a single parent that doesn't have pictures of their child. Right. I mean, back then this would have been privately taken because it was 2002. But, you know, there at least should be some sort of photos. Even photos taken with a disposable camera. It's really hard to fathom, even as people who don't have children, hard to fathom that there are parents like this that have absolutely no feeling for the child they brought home. So with that said, I feel she should still be in prison now.

I completely agree. I could not find where she is nowadays, what she's doing, if she has a family or kids or anything like that. I found an article that kind of talked about her release, and it said that she was going to Georgia, or possibly to Texas as well, to serve her parole. And it interviewed an inmate who had served as a chaplain while she was in prison, and it talked about how she went to pray almost every day, and that Stephanie had a whole lot of friends while in prison. So I don't think that she had a tough time there, unfortunately.

Yeah, some people believe that mothers who go to prison when they've killed their children get it worse than everyone else. But that doesn't always seem to be the case based on some of the cases we've covered. Again, if you've done a stint in women's prison, which we've had several commenters come in here sharing their experience from women's prison, as well as people who have served with some of the people we've covered, by all means, send us a message or leave a comment. We always love to hear your experiences with that.

I know in one case in particular, and a frequent listener and commenter knows a bit about this because she did time with the person I'm about to talk about. It's proven in some cases that they don't have it that hard. There was a young woman who worked at the same bank that I do, who basically allowed her boyfriend to beat and rape her baby. And she only did like two or three years in prison. And while she was there, she had all sorts of special privileges.

Whereas I'm sure he got life in prison or close to it, which he should. Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying he shouldn't. He should. But so should she. Yeah. And she's already out. She didn't even do 20 years.

It doesn't make any sense. I mean, as we've highlighted before how the criminal justice system is in America is and I'm sure other places too but this is where we're more familiar with the criminal justice system here is easier on mothers who kill their children and it's really gross it is it's really sad and it really fosters an environment where moms who just don't want their children or are just really abusive terrible people can just get away with us and know they can get away with us. While we can't definitively say that mothers have this in the back of their head that, oh, I could just kill my child and I know I'll do a very short time in prison, it makes you wonder.

It doesn't set a great precedent for things. No, it doesn't. And that might rub people the wrong way, but it really is what it is, unfortunately. I know there are criticisms at heavy-handed prison sentences on certain crimes, but killing your own child is not one of those that can be criticized in my opinion, that in cases like these, the sentences should be heavy. I will agree that there definitely needs to be more services out, whether it's mental health services or child protective services. All these things need to be revamped, and people need more help, more assistance out there. But in the case of Brianna Lopez, there hadn't even been any sort of CPS calls. Nobody knew this was happening. This all happened in five months. She wasn't taken

into any doctors. Basically, she went home from the hospital, and then she was dead. It was almost as if she was brought home purely to be a play thing. That's really what it reads as when you look over this. Because if they didn't want her, they could have just left her at the hospital. Most states have a safe haven lot. I'm not sure about New Mexico off the top of my head, but I know where we are in Maine. You have three days. And above and beyond that, they're going to be installing boxes for you to go and put your baby in so it's safe even after the fact. I believe most states have safe haven laws, do they not? I believe many, many do. I just don't know the particulars around New Mexico's.

Yeah. So if you do live in New Mexico and I know many of you do, go ahead and leave us a comment in the comment section about what you know about your safe haven laws. Yes, please do. And finally, this was a very requested case. And it's a very uncomfortable case. It's a very uncomfortable case. But it should be uncomfortable. Yes. A lot of people might be wondering, why are we covering a case like this that's just so gross and so senseless?

Like, what's the point of this? It's supposed to make you uncomfortable. It's supposed to feel senseless. I think growing up, we got used to having our eyes shielded from so many things. Like, even to this day, I've had so many people tell me with full confidence that they don't believe human trafficking exists in America at all. They think it's something that only happens in third world countries. I just cannot believe the amount of willful ignorance we have. And through that ignorance, things like this tend to happen. They continue to go on. And while greater

knowledge might not have saved Brianna Lopez, better awareness may not have saved Brianna Lopez. There's many other children that it could have saved, and we've covered many examples of these. We should get used to knowing that these things exist, and it should be painful to realize that and to come to terms with it. But it's the only way that we are going to be able to put things in place to stop things like this from happening. One last thing, since this is a New Mexico case, and we aren't finished our child abuse by state cases. If you are listening from New Mexico and you have a case that involves either a CPS failure, some sort of child abuse that went unnoticed, wasn't covered by the media, fell through the cracks,

please, please send us an email, Miserymachine Podcast at gmail.com, or leave us a comment on our YouTube comment section because we need more of those cases. I've never been in New Mexico. It would be very helpful to have all of you educate us on that. So that way we can shine a light on some of these cases that should have been covered better by the media. So with that other way, if you're listening to YouTube, please hit like and subscribe.

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Anything that you can donate would be very much appreciated. It was horrific. It was terrible. We could see it outside the city. It had literally looked like a bomb had went off. And the smoke was coming into our house, even though this happened about a mile or two down the road. Yeah, it was terrible. All right, with that out of the way, until next week, we love you. Bye.