Police Arrest Suspect on Suspicion of Murdering Three Year Old

By the Santa Barbara Police Department

On February 4, 2023, at 1:33 pm, the Santa Barbara Police Department Combined Communications Center received a 9-1-1 call reporting a medical emergency.  The initial report was a three-year-old girl had fallen out of bed injuring herself. 

Santa Barbara City Fire and American Medical Response personnel were attending to the child, performing CPR when the police arrived. The child was transported to Santa Barbara County Cottage Hospital, where she was pronounced deceased.  

Santa Barbara Police Detectives with the assistance of Santa Barbara County Coroner’s office investigated the death.  Based on the evidence gathered, the case was categorized as a homicide. 

Based upon the investigation into this heinous crime, the suspect was identified as Elvis Alberto Lopez (03/04/1998), the boyfriend of the victim’s mother.  On February 11, 2023, an arrest warrant was authored and signed by a judge for the arrest of Lopez for Penal Code 187, Murder.

Elvis Lopez was later contacted at his family’s residence by Santa Barbara Police Department Detectives and taken into custody without incident.  He was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on $3,000,000 bail.

The Santa Barbara Police Department requests that anyone with information on this case contact the Detective Bureau at (805) 897-2347.

Update by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office

Re: People v. Elvis Alberto Lopez 23CR01013

Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch announced today that 24-year-old Elvis Alberto Lopez of Santa Barbara has been charged with the murder of 3-year-old Jane Doe.

The Defendant is charged in Count 1 with Murder, in violation of Penal Code section 187, and in Count 2 with Assault on a Child Causing Death, in violation of Penal Code section 273ab(a), for an incident that occurred on or about February 4, 2023. In Count 3 the Defendant is charged with child abuse, in violation of Penal Code section 273(d), for an incident that occurred on or about February 2, 2023, and in Counts 4 through 6, the Defendant is charged with three separate incidents of child abuse that allegedly occurred between September 1, 2022, and February 1, 2023. The Defendant is also charged with having been previously convicted of a serious and violent felony, or “strike” offense.

The Defendant was arraigned today February 15, 2023, before the Honorable Judge Raimondo Montes de Oca. The Defendant entered pleas of not guilty and denied all special allegations. Bail was set at $4,000,000.00. The case is scheduled for preliminary hearing setting on March 2, 2023 in Department 6 of the Santa Barbara Superior Court, and will be assigned to Judge Pauline Maxwell.