Mother sentenced to prison for son’s drowning death
District Judge James Bixler on Thursday ordered a mother to spend two to five years behind bars for the backyard drowning of her 20-month-old son.
Mary Jane Lopez, 23, pleaded guilty in December to one count of child abuse and neglect with substantial bodily harm.
She admitted that she failed to properly supervise her son, Geno Valerio, who found his way to the pool through an open sliding-glass door and then drowned in May 2010.
The boy’s grandmother found him floating in the pool.
Police alleged that Lopez had left him unsupervised for several hours in the home at 4878 Santa Barbara St., near U.S. Highway 95 and Tropicana Avenue.