How Could You? Hall of Shame-Jayla Beckley case-Child Death UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From El Paso, Texas, 27-year-old foster father Antonio Lopez has been charged with capital murder in the death of 11-month old foster daughter Jayla Beckley.

“According to El Paso Police, Jayla was taken to University Medical Center on Saturday [July 28, 2012] afternoon because she was having trouble breathing.  She later died.

Her death was ruled suspicious, and an autopsy later confirmed Jayla died of blunt force injuries to her chest and abdomen, which caused other serious injuries that resulted in her death.

Investigators with the El Paso Police Department’s Crimes Against Children, and Crimes Against Persons unit later determined that Lopez was responsible for the injuries.

He was arrested early Wednesday morning [August 1, 2012].”

Foster Parent Charged in the Murder of 11-Month-Old Baby

[KTSM 8/1/12]

“Further details were not immediately released on who sought help for the baby.”

“Jail records did not list an attorney for Lopez, who was being held without bond.”

El Paso man charged in foster baby death

[Houston Chronicle 8/1/12 ]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

Update: CPS blames the mother for THEIR FAILED, NEGLECTFUL placement! What gall!

“Child Protective Services is addressing allegations that they could have prevented the death of foster baby Jayla Beckley. Police say Jayla died last Saturday at the hands of her foster parent, Antonio Lopez.

CPS says the baby’s mother could’ve done more to keep her child. A CPS spokesman told ABC-7 Antonio Lopez passed all the background checks and appeared trustworthy, and that they are horrified by Jayla’s death. But they also said the baby never had to be in his home in the first place.

The baby’s biological mother, Lachreasha Beckley, is an admitted drug user, and a CPS spokesman said her refusal to clean up gave them no choice but to remove her baby from the home. Beckley disagrees.

“Do you feel responsible for her death?” ABC 7 asked Lachreasha Beckley. “No I do not,” she said.

Beckley admitted she hasn’t been the best parent. Lachreasha’s on-going battle with crack cocaine has forced her mother, Mary, to adopt her two sons, and take in Jayla before her death. According to Child Protective Services, Jayla was only removed from Mary Beckley’s home and put in the foster system because of Lachreasha Beckley’s actions.

“We worked extensively with this family to try to come up with a safe placement option to keep this child out of foster care,” said CPS spokesman Paul Zimmerman. “The family would not agree. And we basically had no other option to but to put the child into foster care to guarantee her safety.” [uh…that really didn’t work out so good, did it?]

But Beckley told ABC-7 she wanted Jayla to remain in her care while she attended a rehab facility, a request she said CPS denied.

“I feel like there was no reason for them to remove that baby from the house,” Beckley said. “And I feel like they just did it because they were CPS and that’s what they wanted to do. And because they felt like I was not cooperating, which I was. If you go looking in the case file, you will see where I have signed paperwork because I do need help because I’m carrying another child. And I knew I needed help and I was reaching out,” she said.

Court documents obtained by ABC-7 state Beckley was breaking into her mother’s home, smoking crack on the property and stealing the car. Because she is the custodial parent of Jayla, CPS feared Beckley could legally run off with the baby, putting her in harm’s way.

“We did everything we could to prevent that child from going into foster care, because we knew that was a better placement,” Zimmerman said. [Again, no it was NOT a better placement!]

When confronted by this information, Beckley admitted, she’s partially to blame.

“I have a lot of guilt. Because the bottom line is that if I would have been handling my responsibilities, this would have never happened,” she said.

While both sides are pointing fingers, the fact is a baby is dead. CPS is investigating foster parent Antonio Lopez, trying to figure out what went wrong. Police said Lopez admitted he picked the baby up, put her on the floor and stomped on her chest. The 11-mont-old[sic] died an hour after 911 was called to the house.

Beckley, currenly pregnant with baby number five, told ABC-7 she is working to be a better mother.

“I feel like I made a mistake now that’s taken somebody’s life. I fixin’ to grow up and be a responsible adult,” she said.

Beckely and her mother, Mary, claim they knew Lopez was abusing Jayla before her death. When asked if anyone had checked up on Jayla, Zimmerman said that’s all part of CPS and Residential Childcare Licencing’s investigation which should last 30 to 60 days.”

Biological mother of killed foster baby speaks out

[KVIA 8/3/12]

The aunt could have taken her in.

“Friends and family said goodbye today to baby Jayla Beckley.

The 11 month old died as a result of child abuse. El Paso police say her foster father stomped on her.

It was a tearful gathering of family and friends who say this could all have been prevented if Jayla hadn’t been taken from her home and placed in foster care.

” Whenever she would meet someone she would bring their face to her lips and give them a beautiful kiss. When people would see her they would say what a beautiful angel,” said Jayla’s grandmother Mary Beckley.

Jayla’s grandmother grieved by her granddaughter’s casket. The small coffin was draped in white with flowers and a teddy bear placed on top.

” I want to see this man that murdered my child, my grand baby, she was my baby, to stomp her to death, Want him to be stomped to death too. That’s what I want,”said Beckley.

Beckley says the baby had just moved to the Lopez home six weeks ago after Child Protective Services took her away from her.

“They took her out of my home because they said she wasn’t safe due to the fact that I was elderly although I had two other of the siblings in the family,” said Beckley.

Jayla’s aunt Regina Elliot says her niece’s death could have been prevented.

“They had no reason to remove her and place her in the hands of a murderer. If they didn’t want her to be with Mary, than why not with us,” said Elliot.

Paul Zimmerman with Child Protective Services says foster care is always the last resort.

“We had worked extensively with this family, in the past to try and find a way to keep Jayla out of foster care but ultimately the family could not reach an agreement for her to stay safely in the home that she was staying in. And we basically had our hands tied and had no choice but to put her in foster care,” said Zimmerman.

CPS had tried to get Jayla’s mother to sign a safety plan so that Jayla could be placed with a family member. The agency says that Jayla’s mother frequently visited Jayla and the other children,exposing them to illegal substance abuse and erratic, unsafe behavior. Elliott says there were early signs of abuse in that foster home.

“She had two black eyes, she had a bruise right here. Her lips were purple, she had hair missing from the back of her head. We’ve got pictures of that. Child Protective Services was aware,” said Elliott.

“We’ll look into establishing a timeline, of everybody who saw that child, during her stay at foster care. We’re gonna ask questions like were there signs of abuse? Were they reported? Were they legitimate and what was done if that happened,” said Zimmerman.

Mary Beckley wants justice for her granddaughter.

“This is a heinous crime and justice should be in order because all these little kids that are in the system, they can’t speak for themselves, they cannot protect themselves, and they’re being abused by the system because people want money, bloody money,” said Beckley.”

11 Month Old Allegedly Killed by Foster Parent, Laid to Rest

[KTSM 8/6/12 by Jacqueline Crea]

“El Paso Police have arrested a man in connection with the death of his 11-month-old daughter.

Antonio Lopez, 27, sits behind facing capital murder charges.
On July 28, EMS transported little Jayla Beckley to University Medical Center because she had breathing problems. Jayla died at the hospital.

An autopsy revealed that the Jayla suffered blunt force injuries to her chest and abdomen causing internal injuries, according to police officials.
Police officials said the investigation showed Lopez — Jayla’s foster parent — was responsible for the injuries. According to court documents, Lopez initially denied hurting the baby, but later admitted stomping on Jayla’s chest.

Lopez was arrested early Wednesday morning and booked in the El Paso County Jail.”

El Paso Police arrest foster parent in baby’s death

[KVIA 8/1/12 by Ashlie Rodriguez]

Update 2/July 31,2014: A search of El Paso County records shows that Antonio will have a trial on November 17,2014

Update 3:“Testimony in the capital murder trial of the foster parent accused in the death of an 11-month-old began Tuesday. Antonio Lopez is charged in August 2012 death of Jayla Beckley, a foster child in his care.

Lopez, then 27-years-old, is accused of taking the young child out of a crib, putting her on the floor, and stomping on her chest, killing her. Jury selection finished Monday in the 171th District Court under Judge Bonnie Rangel.

Witness Reanna Reynolds testified she was at the house the day that Jayla died. Reynolds said Lopez’s wife was baking while Antonio took care of Jayla in their room. While they finished the cake, Reynolds said Antonio came into the kitchen, carrying Jayla, saying she was not breathing. She said that’s when they called 9-1-1 and police arrived.

The prosecution also called crime scene investigators to the stand Tuesday.

Jurors then watched a taped interview between detectives and Lopez. The video shows a very frightened and crying Lopez being drilled by detectives. In the video, detectives can be heard telling Lopez that Jayla was in his custody, watching over her, and that he was responsible for her death.

In the 30-minute video, detectives described the injuries Jayla sustained from excessive force. Those injuries include a fractured skull, torn intestines and a ruptured liver.

In that same video, detectives also said the medical examiner stated that Jayla died a very painful death.

Meanwhile, Lopez denied he had done anything wrong.

The trial continues Wednesday morning.”

Trial of man accused of killing 11-month-old begins [KVIA 3/8/16]

“A big development in court Thursday afternoon as the capital murder trial for Antonio Lopez continues.

Lopez is accused of killing 11-month-old Jayla Beckley in 2012.

Wednesday the jury saw the interrogation video where Lopez admitted to stomping on Jayla and calling 911.

But Thursday the defense questioned another child that was in the home when baby Jayla died– a child that a foster mother says has a violent past.

That child is Abigail Flores. She is 15 years old and she was flown in from Phoenix to take the stand.

According to the defense Flores who was 12 at the time was under the supervision of Lopez and in the home when baby Jayla died.

The defense claims that in 2012 Abigail admitted to her foster mother that she killed Jayla.

But on the stand Flores was asked,”Do you remember seeing a baby?”

Flores responded “No.”

She was asked by the defense, ‘Do you see anybody in this courtroom that was in that house?”

She replied “No.”

The defense said “I’m going to ask you a hard question… a baby died in that house, did you kill that baby?”

Flores said “No.”

Flores’s former foster mother Mari Medina was also called to the stand.

She was asked by the defense to describe Flores’s violent past.

Medina said at one point Flores, “Stabbed another foster child in the back of the head with a pencil..”

And on another occasion she, “caught Flores shaking a little boy’s head,”
after she had explained to Flores what shaken baby syndrome was.

The trial continues Friday at 8 a.m.”

New developments in Antonio Lopez trial [KVIA 3/10/16 by Jerry Najera]

Update 4:”Closing arguments in the trial for a foster parent accused of stomping to death an 11-month-old baby are set to begin Tuesday.

A fellow inmate of a foster parent who is accused of killing an 11-month-old baby testified Monday in the Antonio Lopez trial.

Justin Holmes, a convicted child pornographer, said Lopez confessed to him that he abused Jayla Beckley.

Holmes said Lopez tried to get him to cover up the crime by writing a false statement.

Holmes described the crime in graphic detail. He used a book to show the jury how he said Lopez abused the baby.

The defense questioned Holmes about a possible motive for testifying. Holmes could receive time off his own sentence.

Holmes told the jury that he took the stand because “it’s the right thing to do.”

Holmes’ testimony could be a big blow to the defense, which is trying to prove that detectives threatened Lopez into a confession.

A woman from Lopez’s church testified that he is a loving man and that the children always seemed happy.

The defense also called another witness who said another 12-year-old foster child made contradicting statements about being home at the time of baby Jayla’s injuries.

Friends and family of Lopez said they have proof that he didn’t do it.

“We do have a lot of evidence that it wasn’t him,” said Stephanie Murillo, a family friend. “But there’s a lot of things that the judge doesn’t want to show to the jury. We had like a video where they were actually accusing Antonio before they were even starting an investigation.”

Last week, the jury heard Lopez describe to police how he stomped on the baby.

Lopez faces capital murder charges in the child’s death and could be sentenced to life in prison.”

Closing arguments to begin Tuesday in trial for foster parent accused of stomping baby [KFOX TV 3/14/16 by NATE BARRETT, JILLIAN FERTIG]

“A jury was unable to reach a verdict Tuesday after deliberating for five hours in the trial of Antonio Lopez, a foster parent accused of beating to death an 11-month-old baby who was in his custody.

The jury was sequestered for the night by 171st District Court Judge Bonnie Rangel.

Lopez, 30, was arrested in August 2012 after he allegedly stomped on Jayla Beckley at least three times, causing several fatal injuries, according to testimony and court documents.

Jayla suffered tears in her liver and intestines, which caused internal bleeding. She also had three broken right ribs, two broken left ribs and a broken skull.

Lopez is charged with capital murder in the 2012 death of Jayla, according to the District Attorney’s Office. If he is found guilty, he will receive an automatic life sentence.

The jury of seven men and five women began deliberating at about noon Tuesday and were unable to reach a decision by 5 p.m.

The jury is expected to resume deliberations at about 9 a.m. Wednesday.

While Lopez is charged with capital murder, the jury could find him guilty on a lesser charge.

The lesser charges include murder, injury to a child with intent or knowingly committed, injury to a child by recklessness, manslaughter, injury to a child by criminal negligence and criminally negligent homicide.

The sentences on the lesser charges range from 180 days in jail to 99 years in prison.

Lopez allegedly confessed to El Paso police in 2012 to killing Jayla and also allegedly told an inmate at the El Paso County Jail that he had injured the child several times, including stomping on her three times the day she died, according to testimony.

During closing arguments, defense lawyers Robin Norris and Jaime Gandara argued that Lopez was forced to make the confession to police.

Gandara claimed that police “threatened” Lopez that they were going to charge his wife with the murder if he didn’t confess to killing Jayla. He added that the state’s case against Lopez was built off of “extorted confessions.”

However, prosecutors Holly Rodriguez and Lisa Clausen argued that the police were not threatening Lopez but were only telling him what the next steps were in their investigation.

“Do we want our police to hold their hands? ‘Please, please tell me what happened.’ Is that what we want?” Rodriguez said in her closing arguments. “No one forced him to call 911 and say he wanted to confess to murder.”

Defense lawyer Norris in his closing argument focused on the testimony of Justin Holmes, a man convicted on child porn related charges.

Holmes testified in the trial that while he and Lopez were in the El Paso County Jail, Lopez confessed to him about punching Jayla in the stomach, pulling her hair, dropping her to the floor from shoulder height and slamming the door on her.

Holmes is currently serving more than 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to child porn related charges.

“Justin Holmes is a really bad guy,” Norris said. “Justin Holmes is spending more than 12 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to possession of child porn. Everything Holmes said about Tony Lopez is a lie.”

Rodriguez argued that while Holmes might be a convicted felon, the confession Lopez allegedly made to him is still valid.

“Holmes is not citizen of the year,” Rodriguez said. “But he is not lying because he knows details nobody would know unless they spoke to the defendant.”

Norris said that testimony in the trial from people who knew Lopez showed that he was not capable of killing Jayla.

“Some people out there stomp on children, but Tony Lopez isn’t one of those people,” Norris said. “Stomping on a baby is totally out of this guy’s character.”

Rodriguez finished her closing arguments by telling the jury that all the evidence pointed to Lopez killing Jayla.

“The evidence has shown you who killed Jayla,” Rodriguez said. “He (Lopez) tortured her (Jayla). He had no mercy for her. He referred to her as state property. He is guilty of capital murder. Find him guilty.”

After closing arguments, one juror was disqualified from the jury due to her limited understanding of English.

The judge met with the juror outside of the presence of the other jury members and asked whether the woman understood the testimony given throughout the trial. The juror replied that she understood most of it.

The defense motioned to have her removed from the jury. Rangel agreed due to the struggle the woman had expressing herself when talking to the judge. The juror was disqualified and replaced by an alternate juror.”

Jury sequestered in man’s trial in baby’s death [El Paso Times 3/15/16 by Aaron Martinez]

“As Day 2 of jury deliberations comes to a close, a judge sequestered jurors again.

The jury couldn’t come to a decision on capital murder, murder or negligent manslaughter charges for Antonio Lopez. Lopez is accused in the death of 11-month-old Jayla Beckley.

On Tuesday night, jurors were sequestered at a hotel. The court bailiff patrolled the hallway to make sure they didn’t talk about the case.

The jury deliberated for five hours on Tuesday before resting for the night, and deliberations resumed Wednesday at 8 a.m.

Lopez could be convicted of capital murder, which carries an automatic life sentence.

Jayla was a foster child in his care, and the defense argued that Lopez was threatened by detectives into a confession.

They also said another foster child may be responsible for Jayla’s death.

Deliberations are set to continue Thursday at 9 a.m.”

Jury in Antonio Lopez trial sequestered again [KFOX TV 3/16/16 by NATE BARRETT, JILLIAN FERTIG]

Update 5:“On the third day of jury deliberations, a judge declared a mistrial in the case of Antonio Lopez, the man accused of stomping 11-month-old Jayla Beckley to death in 2012.

The jury began deliberations Tuesday and was sequestered two nights in a row before continuing deliberations at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Just before noon, the jury told the court it could not reach an agreement on the verdict. The judge said nine jurors were in favor of an acquittal and three wanted a conviction.

Lopez faced a capital murder charge, which carries a life sentence.

“There were some jurors who thought he probably did it and there were some who felt he might have been responsible for some omission to protect the child, but there were a variety of different views from the jurors,” said Robin Norris, Lopez’s attorney.

Over the last week, the state had several witnesses testify, including one of Lopez’s fellow inmates, Justin Holmes.

Holmes said Lopez told him how he killed baby Jayla and asked him to help cover it up.

The defense said Holmes was testifying to get time knocked off his own sentence he’s serving for a child pornography conviction.

The jury also saw video of the police interview where Lopez admitted to the crime.

Jayla was a foster child in his care and the defense argued that Lopez was threatened by detectives into a confession.

They also said another foster child may be responsible for Jayla’s death.

“Our defense in this case is that Antonio Lopez did not commit this crime,” Norris said.

Family and friends of Lopez said Thursday’s outcome was both disappointing and a relief.

“I can’t say that I’m super happy about it, but I’m happy the majority thought he was innocent,” said Perla Martinez, a family friend of Lopez.

Lopez will be on trial again as he is still charged with capital murder. But the defense said there’s no time frame for when that will happen.

Norris said they will be working on several things in the meantime.

“We are going to make an attempt to adjust his bond so that he can return to his family,” he said.

The state said it didn’t want to comment on a pending case.”

Judge declares mistrial in Antonio Lopez case [KFOX TV 3/17/16 by Jesse Martinez]

Update 6: “The jury could not reach a verdict in the trial of Antonio Lopez, the foster parent accused of killing an 11-month old baby.

After more than two days of deliberations, the jury was deadlocked and the judge declared a mistrial.

Lopez’s father-in-law, Juan Holguin, spoke exclusively with ABC-7. A longtime foster parent himself, he had a lot to say about Thursday’s mistrial.

Holguin believes his son-in-law is innocent and had nothing to do with the death of little Jayla Beckley.

“They got into it because they saw my wife and I doing foster care,” Holguin said of his daughter, Alice Pearl Lopez, and son-in-law. “We’ve been doing foster care for about 28 years for more than a hundred children. My son-in-law wanted to do the same as me.”

But that took a tragic turn when Jayla was murdered back in 2012, leaving Lopez, now 30, on trial for capital murder and facing a mandatory life in prison sentence.

“My daughter is innocent, my son in law is innocent,” Holguin said. “My son in law was in his little office. My daughter were in the kitchen baking a cake.”

Holguin echoed Lopez’s defense team, which claimed Lopez was bullied into a confession by police.

“The hammering they did to my son in law,”  Holguin said. “You can’t tell a man like Antonio Lopez to confess or we’re going to put your (wife) in jail. You can’t do that to a man. They threatened him saying that, you know, if it wasn’t him, it was her, you know.”

Asked if he was relieved that the trial was declared a mistrial, leaving Lopez facing a likely retrial at some point, Holguin got emotional.

“I’m not relieved,” he said through tears. “I wanted my son-in-law back. I wanted him back. I  wanted him home today.”

Holguin said being behind bars has changed Lopez.

“They’re asking my son, ‘Why didn’t you testify?’ Holguin said. “He can’t testify. He’s been in jail four years! Look at his eyes! My son-in-law isn’t there anymore.””

Father-in-law speaks out after foster child murder mistrial [Kvia 3/17/16 by Darren Hunt]

Update 7:”Antonio Lopez was at the El Paso County Courthouse for a bail hearing Friday morning. Lopez is accused of stomping his 11-month-old foster daughter to death in 2012.

The judge decided to let him out of jail while he waits for a retrial. She also decided to lower his bail.

He went on trial this year, but the jury could not reach a verdict, and the judge declared a mistrial. Nine jurors wanted an acquittal and three wanted a conviction.

On Friday, the judge ruled Lopez will be out of jail until his retrial in September. He will live in his father-in-law’s house with his (Lopez’s) mom. The judge reduced his bail. It was originally at $250,000 surety and $50,000 personal recognizance. She is going to reduce the $250,000 down to a $25,000 surety bond, and will keep it at $50,000 for the personal recognizance portion. His bail is $75,000 total. The terms of the personal recognizance bail are as follows:

He will remain in El Paso County at a home in Fabens.

He cannot have a change of residence without prior approval of the court. His wife has to live separate from him in order to keep Jeremiah, another foster kid, away from Lopez. Jeremiah is his father-in-law’s foster child. Lopez’s wife is the caretaker when her dad goes out of town.

There is to be absolutely zero contact between Jeremiah and Lopez.

Lopez can have unsupervised contact with his kids. His wife said she is OK with that.

Lopez may not have unsupervised contact with any kids except his own; an adult must be present.

Lopez may not have any contact with any of the state’s witnesses from the prior trial, adult or child, except his mom.

Lopez has to report once a week until the trial in September

He can’t be around bars, drugs or alcohol, or be arrested or commit any offenses.

His curfew is 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., except for school or church-related activities.

In 2012, Lopez confessed to the crime, but his attorneys say another foster child may have killed the baby.

The retrial is set to begin in September.”

Man accused of stomping foster baby to death scheduled to appear in court [Kfox 4/29/16 by MARCEL CLARKE AND ASHLEY CLASTER]