The 1995 Murder Of Elisa Izquierdo
On November 22, 1995 little Elisa Izquierdo was brutally murdered by her mother Awilda Lopez at the age of six. When Elisa was born on February 11, 1989, she was addicted to crack cocaine. As a result of her mother's addiction, custody of Elisa was awarded to her father Gustavo Izquierdo.
In 1993, Gustavo Izquierdo formed plans to relocate with Elisa to his native Cuba.[7] He is known to have purchased airline tickets for himself and his daughter for May 26, 1994. However, Gustavo was admitted to hospital with respiratory complications (diagnosed as lung cancer), and died on May 26: the same date he had planned to travel to Cuba with his daughter.After the death of Elisa's father, Awilda filed for custody of the child.Awilda Lopez's application to obtain permanent custody of Elisa was approved by Judge Greenbaum in September 1994.Upon being awarded full custody of her daughter, Awilda moved her daughter from the school where she had attended and enrolled her in a local public school, where Elisa was observed to be withdrawn and uncommunicative. The principal of the school also noted that Elisa bore bruises and walked with apparent difficulty. The school's concerns regarding abuse of Elisa were reported to the Manhattan Child Welfare Authorities (CWA). Reportedly, the CWA replied to the school that their concerns were "not reportable" due to a lack of evidence of abuse. In response to the school's reporting to the CWA and a subsequent visit by staff at the school regarding suspected abuse of her daughter, Awilda — by this time known to have reverted to regular crack cocaine use — withdrew Elisa from the school.
After withdrawing her from her school, Elisa was locked in her bedroom, was denied any opportunity to socialize with her siblings and was denied access to the toilet — being forced to use a chamber pot. Neighbors also reported hearing sounds of Elisa being beaten and otherwise abused; later reporting hearing Elisa's repeatedly pleading with her mother to stop hitting her and stating such pleas as: "Mommy, Mommy, please stop! No more! I'm sorry." Some neighbors did report their suspicions of child abuse to child welfare authorities; however, no effective action was taken.Other indignities and abuse inflicted by Awilda upon her daughter (some of which were witnessed by Elisa's siblings) included repeated punching; forcing the child to eat her own feces; mopping the floor with Elisa's hair; inflicting burns upon the child's head, face and body and sexually violating her with a hairbrush. Awilda's partner, Carlos Lopez (himself also a regular user of drugs) is also known to have physically abused Elisa.
On November 15, Carlos Lopez was jailed in relation to a violation of parole. Seven days later, on the evening of November 22, Awilda phoned one of her sisters to report that Elisa was "like retarded on the bed,"] adding Elisa would not eat or drink. The following morning, Awilda contacted a neighbor, whom she invited to view Elisa's lifeless body. This neighbor, upon being unable to locate signs of life, called police and an ambulance.
In custody, Awilda initially confessed to having thrown Elisa head-first into a concrete wall two days prior to her contacting her neighbor, adding that Elisa neither talked nor walked after this incident. A subsequent autopsy revealed numerous injuries including broken fingers (one bone of which was protruding through the skin), damage to internal organs, deep welts and burns across her head, face and body, and her genitalia also bore evidence of trauma. Forensically, it was proven that the injuries had been sustained over a prolonged period of time.
As of 2013, Awilda Lopez is still incarcerated for Elisa's murder.
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