Father Held in Death of Year-Old Girl

Police arrested a Placentia machinist Saturday in connection with the Thanksgiving Day death of his 15-month-old daughter, who suffered seizures during a holiday gathering.

The victim, Gabriella Lopez, died Thursday evening after being rushed by paramedics to Placentia Linda Community Hospital, said Police Sgt. Jerry Zamora.

Paramedics had been called to the father’s home by relatives who said Gabriella was shaking uncontrollably. But investigators later determined that she suffered internal injuries consistent with some type of child abuse, Zamora said.

Officials would not elaborate on the kind of wounds the toddler suffered. “It appears some sort of abuse was involved,” Zamora said. “I don’t know if it was a beating . . . or something else.”

A spokeswoman for the Orange County coroner’s office said officials cannot determine the cause of Gabriella’s death until toxicology and microscopic tests are completed.

Gabriella’s father, Victor Medina Lopez, 25, was arrested at 1 a.m. Saturday and is being held at Orange County Jail on suspicion of murder.

“The story that the officers were given as to what occurred was inconsistent with what the officers felt actually occurred,” said Placentia Police Sgt. Kim Redifer. “The statement given by the father, they didn’t feel it was right.”

Lopez’s family expressed shock at his arrest and said it makes the loss of Gabriella even more difficult to bear.

“The police have the wrong idea. My son would not do something like that,” said Victor Lopez Sr., who shared the Placentia home with his son. “I feel they are wrong to accuse him. He loved the girl very much.”

Relatives said they were preparing Thanksgiving dinner when Gabriella fell ill. Lopez’s father said his son and others tried to help Gabriella but could do little else but call paramedics.

“He didn’t know why he couldn’t help my granddaughter,” Lopez Sr. said. “He was really depressed because he didn’t understand why it happened. . . . He was really crying and mentally depressed” afterward.

Gabriella lives with her mother most of the time but was visiting her father for Thanksgiving dinner, relatives said. Lopez also has a 7-year-old son from a second relationship, but the boy doesn’t live with his father, they added.

Lopez Sr. described Gabriella as a friendly child who was frequently under the weather. “She was sick all the time,” he said. “She had a stomachaches and runny noses all the time.”

Zamora said he was unaware of any previous reports of child abuse at the Lopez home.

Also contributing to this report was Times correspondent John Canalis.