SAN ANTONIO – The mother of two young children whose decomposing bodies were found wrapped in plastic bags beneath a house this week was arrested Saturday and charged with capital murder.
Valerie Lopez, 19, was arrested early Saturday along with her boyfriend, authorities said.
Lopez confessed to beating to death Sariyah Garcia, her 18-month-old daughter, and hiding her body beneath her home, Police Chief William McManus said. Sariyah died Christmas Eve.
Lopez told investigators she killed Sebastian Lopez, her 5-month-old son, when she accidentally rolled over him about two months later, District Attorney Susan Reed said. Lopez also hid his body under the house.
The boyfriend, Jerry Salazar, faces a charge of injury to a child by omission. He was aware Lopez was abusing her children, police said.
Police had been searching for the couple since Tuesday night when the children's bodies were found by residents of a triplex who were trying to locate the source of a foul odor they had been smelling for as long as two weeks.
Family members had little contact with Lopez since she had started living with Salazar, but friends reported seeing her looking as if she had been beaten up, her sister said.
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