Mother held in death of boy who drowned in home pool
The 22-year-old mother of a toddler who drowned last week left the child unsupervised for at least three hours before he was discovered floating in the home pool, a police report released Wednesday said.
Las Vegas police arrested Mary Jane Lopez in connection with the death of 2-year-old Geno Valerio, who was found dead in a pool at 4878 Santa Barbara St., near U.S. Highway 95 and Tropicana Avenue.
Lopez is booked in the Clark County Detention Center and faces the recommended charges of felony child neglect with substantial bodily harm, and two additional counts of child abuse and endangerment for leaving her 1-year-old twins unsupervised. The twin boys have been placed in protective custody.
According to the police report:
Lopez said she went into the victim's grandfather's bedroom to borrow a phone on May 2. She noticed that the sliding door leading to the backyard pool was open. The toddler was with her when she entered the bedroom.
Lopez gave police different accounts of where the grandfather, Rocco Valerio, 59, was at the time she entered the room. In her first account, he was in the shower. She also told police that he was ironing his clothes preparing for work. In the third version, she said he was about to iron his clothes.
Lopez then told police she walked to a nearby store to "get some air." She said she was upset because the toddler's father wasn't coming home and instead chose to hang out with friends.
Valerio told police that he never spoke to Lopez before he left for work and that she never asked him to take care of her toddler son. Valerio said he never cares for any of the children in the house.
The report said that sometime after Lopez went to the store, she took a nap for several hours without knowing where the toddler was.
The victim's grandmother, Esther Wright, 48, told police she came home from work about 5 p.m. and took a nap. It wasn't until about 8 p.m. that she saw her grandson floating facedown in the pool and called 911.
"I don't need medical, I need the police to come, my grandson drowned," Wright told the dispatcher. She was then heard saying: "I can't believe this, Mary Jane."
She also told the dispatcher she suspected that her grandson had been under water for about three hours, the report said.
Lopez told police that she and Wright discussed disposing of the toddler's body because they knew Lopez would go to jail if they didn't.
But Wright adamantly denied that claim and said very little time elapsed between when she found her grandson in the pool and when she called 911.
Lopez told police it was her fault the child died because she didn't know where he was and should have located him before she took a nap, according to the report.
The report also noted that Lopez told Wright she felt somewhat relieved that the boy, a diabetic who had to receive four shots daily, had died.
"I'm happy that's he's gone and don't have to suffer anymore," Lopez said.
Lopez was investigated by authorities last year on allegations of failing to provide medical care for the boy. Clark County Child Protective Services substantiated the allegations, and the case was closed after medical case management program staff worked with the family.
Contact reporter Antonio Planas at
aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.
