10:01am | More than two months after a mother seriously injured her infant child, the hospitalized baby died, police said.
Six-month-old Nate Lopez-Garcia died on June 7 after having remained on life support since March 29, when the Long Beach Police Department responded to a residence in the 3000 block of Theresa Street to assist the Long Beach Fire Department with the then-3-month-old baby. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was placed in the intensive care unit and listed in critical condition, according to information provided by LBPD spokeswoman Nancy Pratt.
The baby’s mother, 23-year-old Elyse Louis Lopez, of Long Beach, was determined to be responsible for his injuries and was placed under arrest.
Lopez’s case was presented to the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office by LBPD child abuse detectives on April 1,resulting in Lope being charged with one count of child cruelty resulting in possible injury or death, Pratt said.
The mother”s preliminary hearing took place on May 18 in Long Beach Superior Court, and she is currently awaiting trial in the custody of the L.A. COunty Sheriff’s Department in lieu of $1 million bail.
Though the L.A. County Coroner’s Office has ruled the incident a homicide, LBPD homicide detectives are awaiting the results of the official autopsy before presenting additional charges to the D.A.’s Office, Pratt said.
Police have yet to respond to an inquiry as to the specific injuries the child suffered that led to his hospitalization and subsequent death.