Santa Barbara County District Attorney charges Santa Barbara man Elvis Alberto Lopez for murder of three-year-old

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif.– The Santa Barbara County District Attorney charged 24-year-old Elvis Alberto Lopez for the Feb. 4 murder of a three-year-old toddler.

Lopez was the boyfriend of the child's mother and was arrested over the past weekend for the Feb. 4 homicide of a three-year-old girl, according to the Santa Barbara Police Department.

SBPD reported law enforcement and medical personnel responded to an initial 911 call of the toddler having fallen out of bed and injuring herself. Upon arrival to the scene, first responders performed CPR and transported the child to the hospital where she later died.

Santa Barbara Police Detectives alongside the county coroner's office determined the death was a homicide, and identified the boyfriend of the child's mother as the suspect.

Lopez now faces charges of murder, assault on a child causing death, and four counts of child abuse for a Feb. 2 incident and separate incidents spanning September 2022 to February 2023.

Lopez has a previous conviction and also faces an additional "strike". In a Feb. 15 arraignment, Lopez entered pleas of not guilty and denied all special allegations.

The Santa Barbara man is set to on Mar. 2 for a preliminary hearing and is being held on a $4 million bail.