00:00Hello and welcome to the Dark Mystery Lounge. Today we are going to take a trip to New Mexico
00:06to talk about the Baby Brianna case, one of the worst cases of child abuse in New Mexico history.
00:12Now I'm going to go ahead and give you a warning right now. There will be graphic descriptions
00:16of abuse in a few pictures so if you can't handle that then go ahead and exit this video now.
00:23You can check out other videos like Anubis made a video about the Georgia Guidestones that I
00:28thought was pretty cool. So if you're still here then let's go ahead and get started.
00:35When a baby is born it's a time of celebration and happiness, taking newborn photos at the hospital
00:42and birth announcements to friends and family. There are a lot of firsts, getting used to nursing,
00:48first diaper changes, first bath, and dressing them up in their go-home outfit as they leave the
00:54hospital healthy and safe. Sadly, that's not the case for every infant. Brianna Mariah Lopez,
01:02or simply known as Baby Brianna, was born on Valentine's Day 2002 to Stephanie Lopez and Andy
01:09Walters. They left the hospital and went back home to Las Cruces, New Mexico to a trailer that was already
01:16pretty cramped. Along with Baby Brianna's parents, her uncle Steven Lopez, grandmother Patricia Walters,
01:24uncle Robert Walters Jr., and two other children lived in the trailer. The moment that Baby Brianna
01:30came home, she was abused every single day of her life. Her mother would scream, slap, punch, bite,
01:38and pinch her daughter's tiny body whenever she cried. But majority of the abuse came from her father,
01:45Andy, and her uncle Steven, while Stephanie sat back and watched. They kicked, punched, threw, pinched,
01:52awed, and sodomized the baby when she was just weeks old. When Brianna would cry out in agony,
01:59the three of them would just laugh and abuse her more. They even stuffed clothing into her mouth
02:04to muffle the screams. Baby Brianna suffered for 153 days when her hell on earth came to an end,
02:12at the hands of those that were supposed to love and protect her. On July 18th, 2002,
02:19Andy got off work and purchased some beers. That evening, Stephanie, Andy, and Steven
02:25drank some beers, then Stephanie went to bed. Andy and Steven decided to play a sick game with Brianna.
02:32They tossed Brianna up into the air with enough force that she hit the moving ceiling fan and just
02:38let her fall to the floor. Brianna screamed in agony. This was all taking place in the same room
02:44where Stephanie was sleeping. She claimed she didn't hear anything, but again, the men thought it was
02:50funny. According to later police interrogations, Steven admitted to sodomizing Brianna but stopped
02:57because, quote, he realized what he was doing was wrong, unquote. The next morning, on July 19th,
03:04around 7 15 a.m., Stephanie woke up to Brianna crying and noticed fresh bruises and cuts on her body.
03:12She asked the men what happened. They told her that they played a little too rough with her last night.
03:18Stephanie seemed to accept that answer and just carried on with her day like normal,
03:23while ignoring Brianna's cries for help. Andy offered to change the baby's diaper. During this
03:28diaper change, he wrapped the baby wipe around his finger and sodomized his own daughter. Sadly,
03:35this is not the first time this has happened. He would often do this to her with random objects.
03:41Around mid-morning, Brianna was close to death when Stephanie noticed that she wasn't breathing.
03:47She apparently called Brianna's grandmother before calling 911, while Steven and Andy attempted CPR.
03:54Stephanie told the operator that Brianna had fallen from her high chair. Brianna was rushed to Memorial
04:00Medical Center, where they tried to resuscitate her, but sadly, it was too late. Brianna Maria Lopez
04:08was pronounced dead at 11 10 a.m. She was just five months and five days old. Stephanie's story changed
04:15again when she told hospital staff that Brianna fell out of bed, but her autopsy would tell a different
04:22story. The cause of death was cranial cerebral injuries due to the fact that she was battered.
04:27Due to blunt force injury to Brianna's head in the last three days or less resulted in a large subdural
04:35hematoma on her brain. X-rays revealed her skull was fractured in two places on two different bones,
04:42and that the fractures were five to seven days old. Old blood was found during her brain tissue
04:47examination, which meant that she had received separate brain injuries in the past. Her optical
04:53nerves were filled with both fresh and old blood, which meant that Brianna had been violently shaken
04:59on at least two occasions. She also had a long list of other injuries, both old and new, including
05:07broken ribs, both broken legs, a broken left arm, lacerations on her fingers, 13 bite marks,
05:14lacerations to her vagina, including three tears to her hymen, and several injuries to her anus.
05:21Her anus had no muscle tone and was gaped open. During the autopsy, it was observed that her anal
05:27opening was dilated a full inch. The medical examiner listed her death as a homicide. Upon searching the
05:34home, investigators noticed that there were no toys and no photos of Brianna while she was alive.
05:41Before Stephanie was taken into police custody, she was allowed to see Brianna's body. She cradled
05:48her deceased child, saying over and over, I'm so sorry. Stephanie asked if she could cover Brianna's
05:55bruises, which she covered up everything except her eyes. All three of these monsters were arrested.
06:01Steven Lopez and Andy Walters were charged with abuse resulting in death, conspiracy,
06:07and criminal sexual penetration of a minor. Stephanie was charged with negligent child abuse
06:12resulting in death and negligent child abuse not resulting in great bodily harm. The other
06:18children in the home were taken into protective custody. Brianna's grandmother, Patricia Walters,
06:24and her uncle, Robert Walters Jr., were charged with failure to report child abuse or child neglect.
06:31Steven was sentenced to 51 years in prison. Andy was sentenced to 57 years in prison. Stephanie was
06:38sentenced to 27 years. Both Patricia and Robert were sentenced to just 60 days in jail. Surprisingly enough,
06:46Stephanie didn't even serve her full sentence. Stephanie was released from prison in 2016 due to good
06:53behavior. Detective Lyndall Wright, who served on Brianna's case, just before the autopsy began,
07:00Detective Wright took a picture of Brianna, quote, before they started the autopsy and her little face
07:06was lying on a white sheet, I thought she looks asleep. So I took the picture and airbrushed the photo
07:13to see what Brianna would have looked like when she was alive, unquote. Now some good did come from this case.
07:20In 2005, the Baby Brianna bill passed and became law in New Mexico. The Baby Brianna law requires a
07:28mandatory life sentence for intentional acts of child abuse and neglect that result in death of a child
07:35under the age of 12. Sadly, it's not retroactive, so it won't affect her killer's sentences. When the news
07:42spread about Baby Brianna's death throughout the Las Cruces community, they came together, claimed her body,
07:50paid for a casket, and a burial plot was donated at Doña Ana Cemetery and gave her a funeral full of love.
07:57There is no headstone placed on her grave, just a marker. It was decorated with flowers, stuffed animals,
08:05balloons, and small statues of angels by the community that showed how much they truly loved and cared for
08:11Brianna. When Brianna's family saw this, well, they weren't too happy. As if this poor child hasn't been
08:18through enough in life, her family had one final blow. Even though they didn't claim her body or pay for
08:25any of her funeral expenses, they did pay for one thing. They paid for and installed a metal cage on top of
08:33baby Brianna's grave, where her marker is, and it's under lock and key. Inside that cage, there's a statue
08:40of an angel with a finger to its lips, and that's what her family wanted, was for everyone to remain
08:46quiet in hopes that in time, Brianna will be forgotten. Luckily, or if you're her family, unluckily,
08:54Brianna's story spread far and wide, and people from all over the country came out and put pressure to
09:00remove the cage. But sadly, the family has a legal right to keep it there. There were even people
09:06who petitioned to have the cage removed. Someone even reached out to Stephanie about this, and she
09:12claimed she didn't know anything about the cage, and said that she'll talk to her family about having
09:18it removed. Of course, she did nothing, and didn't care because that cage is still up to this day.
09:24So what of course did the people do? They decided to decorate the cage, and around the cage.
09:30Eventually, the lock came off on occasions to clean her grave that was littered with debris.
09:35Now that door remains open. A memorial bench was built. There is still an outpouring of love to this
09:41day. This is the kind of love that she deserved, that her family never gave her. Had she had lived
09:48and gotten out of that hellhole, she would have celebrated her 21st birthday, just as past Valentine's
09:54Day 2023. Rest in peace, Brianna Maria Lopez.
09:59When I first learned about baby Brianna's story, at the time I didn't have a YouTube channel,
10:15but I knew I wanted to cover it, because my blood just boiled as I read her story. I cried and was
10:21angry at the same time. But I just have one question for Brianna's so-called family. What in your twisted
10:28little pea-brained mind did Brianna do that was so bad in your screwed up eyes that justified beating
10:35her to death? And then put a damn cage on her grave you didn't pay for? You didn't even give her the
10:42respect of claiming her body. To me, if you didn't claim her body, or pay for her funeral expenses,
10:48then you should have no right to put that cage on top of her grave. Period. That poor baby has been
10:55through enough hell, she didn't deserve it. No child does. If you didn't want her for whatever reason,
11:03we have safe haven laws in 45 states and two U.S. territories. And in New Mexico, to be specific,
11:10you have 90 days after the child is born, to take them to one of the safe haven places.
11:17It is a hospital, fire station, or police station with no consequences and no questions asked. Hell,
11:24there are even baby boxes being built at these safe haven places. And in under two minutes after
11:30the door is closed, someone is there to retrieve the child on the other side of that box. It is that
11:37damn simple. And they would have gladly found her a home with a loving, supportive family.
11:43You guys decided to take this poor little girl and torture her to death. And as to Stephanie,
11:49she should have gotten a longer sentence. I think all of them should have gotten life without parole,
11:54at the very least. They don't deserve to breathe the same air as me and you. Honestly, if you abuse a
12:00child, whether or not though they die, I think the death penalty would be better. But that's just me, I guess.
12:07Sorry for the rant. You're probably wondering why I decided to cover this case. And it's because I
12:12want people to be aware of child abuse and the whole phrase, if you see something, say something.
12:19The laws need to change and harsher sentences should be enforced on these monsters. I've heard
12:24of people charged with nonviolent crimes that are longer than child abuse charges. And that's sad.
12:30That needs to change. Anyways, I'm not going to ask you if you've enjoyed this video. I mean,
12:36if you found it interesting in any way, hit that like button, share this story to as many people as
12:43possible. I don't want Brianna to ever be forgotten. Subscribe and tickle that bell because I've got
12:50another case coming out that is just as bad, if not worse, than what happened to Brianna. And strangely,
12:56it didn't get nowhere near the same amount of attention that I believe it deserves. So stay tuned
13:02for that. Thanks for hanging out with me in the Dark Mystery Lounge. This is Phoenix signing out.
13:08Have a good evening and stay safe.
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