A babysitter who killed a 5-month-old boy in her custody will be spending the next 20 years of her life in prison.
Reyna Lopez, 43, of East Marion Street, Eatonton, pled guilty to murder in the second degree Monday in Greene County Superior Court.
After he explained that Greene County Courthouse was the only location holding superior court that day, which necessitated the case to be transferred from Putnam County, Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale said Judge Stephen A. Bradley sentenced Lopez to 30 years, with 20 of those to be served in confinement and the remaining 10 on probation.
“ICE has a hold on her as well,” Barksdale added.
Lopez was arrested on Nov. 13, 2024, on an assortment of charges pertaining to murder, assault, cruelty to children, and making false statements. The baby, Christopher Perez-Gutierrez, was buried the same day as her arrest.
The investigation went on for five weeks because it involved undocumented immigrants from Guatemala who did not speak English, and the need to fly federal authorities in from Puerto Rico to conduct lie detector tests.
“I appreciate the hard work of [Georgia Dept. of Corrections Officer] Bobby Keim in this case,” Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell said. “He served as the interpreter and conducted 27 extensive interviews with the babysitter, mother, and other family members. “I also appreciate Investigator Hargrove Jones’ hard work. It was a really hard case, but my heart goes out to the mother.”
Cardwell first learned of the case when he received a call on Oct. 10, 2024, from the Scottish Rite Hospital – Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, telling him a Hispanic infant had been flown in by medical helicopter and the child had severe skull fractures, brain bleeding, and bruising on his head and legs. The hospital authorities had also called in the Georgia Division of Health and Children Services.
With help from Keim, Cardwell talked to the mother, Mayra Perez, who told him she worked for a cleaning company and had taken Christopher to Lopez’s house that morning on her way to work. Lopez was the infant’s regular babysitter and also had seven children of her own living with her, ages 1 to 11, according to Cardwell.
“She said the baby was fine when she dropped him off, but about an hour later, the babysitter called her and said the baby was really sick and she needed to come get him,” Cardwell said.
Perez picked up her son and drove him straight to St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital in Greene County. There, the emergency department doctors called for a medical helicopter to fly the severely injured infant to the Atlanta hospital.
Lopez originally told them baby Christopher had fallen off the sofa, so she had picked him up, shaken him, and hit him in an effort to revive him. But earlier, she had told Eatonton investigators the baby was sick when the mother first brought him to her house.
Because of the different versions, Cardwell brought in FBI Special Agent Israel Simon, who speaks Spanish, to conduct lie detector tests on both women.
“He said Perez (Christopher’s mother) passed with flying colors,” Cardwell said. “I’d never heard it phrased that way, but he was confident she had nothing to do with her son’s death and had no knowledge of what happened.”
Perez had originally been arrested for making false statements. Still, those charges were dropped, Cardwell said, because of the lie detector test results and because investigators determined she was scared of the babysitter and of law enforcement.
Lopez’s husband, Joel Perez-Sanchez, was also arrested on charges of making false statements because he had told the officers that nothing had happened at their house. On Monday, Barksdale said the husband’s case is still pending.
The DA said he had mixed feelings about taking the plea.
“It was a really sad, sad day,” Barksdale said. “I couldn’t sleep last night. The human side of me wanted to take it to trial, but the lawyer side of me knew it was better to get it resolved. Baby cases are always difficult, and this one was especially so because no one spoke English.
“Even though Christopher’s mother, Chief Cardwell, and Sheriff Howard Sills all supported the plea deal, it was difficult because that baby is never going to have a first birthday, never going to go to school or play on a playground. Never going to do so many things we enjoy in life. It made me want to go to trial and get a longer sentence, but the lawyer side of me knew this was the best way to go. Losing a child always weighs heavily on our hearts and minds.”
Cardwell echoed the DA’s sentiments.
“I’m glad it’s resolved,” Cardwell said Monday. “My heart goes out to the mother of Christopher and to the child who is not with us anymore. To see the mother’s pain in her eyes this morning in court, it was really hard. There’s never a good conclusion in cases like this, but I hope some closure has been made.”