Parents charged in death of girl, 2
The parents of a 2-year-old Pomona girl who died May 19 of malnutrition were charged Wednesday with murder, authorities said.
Lupe Lopez, 28, and Gabriel Garcia, 27, were arrested today and charged in the death of Isabelle Garcia, said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the L.A. County district attorney’s office. They are being held on $1-million bail. The arrests come two months after a sibling found the toddler unresponsive in her bed at their home in a trailer park in the 200 block of South Huntington Street.
The primary cause of death was determined to be malnutrition, authorities said. Isabelle weighed 19 pounds at the time of her death.
Lopez was initially arrested two days after her daughter’s death but was released pending further investigation, authorities said. The couple’s five children were removed from the home at the time.
Officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services said they could not specifically comment on the case because of the ongoing criminal investigation and confidentiality laws.
Isabelle and her siblings were placed in foster care in March 2006, days after her birth, because of suspected neglect and concerns about her father’s alleged drug abuse, said an official familiar with the case. Gabriel Garcia had a lengthy history of misdemeanor drug convictions.
But when their foster mother had to return to Mexico, the children were returned to their parents, law enforcement officials said.
The court had ordered Lopez and Garcia to comply with a series of mandates that included parenting classes for both, and anger management classes and regular drug testing for the father, who had previously been deported to Mexico, sources said.
After the parents completed those steps, the sources said, a county social worker recommended to the court that Isabelle and her siblings -- two boys and two girls -- be returned to the home last year, the sources said.
Child custody laws were reformed a decade ago to favor a child’s safety over family reunification.
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richard.winton@latimes.com
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