Angelica Alvarez

Background

Angelica Alvarez was 27 years old. She was described as an Elkhart County mother who pleaded guilty to killing her four children.

The children were Jennifer Lopez, 8; Gonzalo Lopez, 6; Daniel Valdez, 4; and Jessica Valdez, 2.

A husband, Fernando Valdez, was described as finding Alvarez unconscious in their home with the children dead.

The offence

Alvarez killed her four children in her Elkhart home. Police said the children were found dead in the basement alongside Alvarez, who was unconscious and hospitalized under sedation.

In court admissions, Alvarez said she took the four children to the basement, gave them sleeping pills, and then choked them to death one by one. She tried to kill herself after the deaths.

Investigators and prosecutors discussed whether the children had been drugged before they were killed. Previous testimony had suggested that the children had been drugged before they were killed, but prosecuting attorney Curtis T. Hill presented toxicology reports showing that the children were not drugged.

Alvarez had left a note explaining what she had done and why. The note stated that her husband was in the process of leaving her and that she did not feel she was capable to take care of the four children alone.

A case description also included that she used an electrical cord to hang herself, but it did not work, so she took several sleeping pills.

Investigation

Police said the deaths were ruled homicides. An autopsy determined the children died of asphyxia.

Firefighters said tests for carbon monoxide were negative.

Detectives reviewed records of police visits to the home that involved custody disputes between Alvarez and Gonzalo Lopez, the father of the two older children. Detectives interviewed Lopez but were not focusing their investigation on any particular person, and police said they found no sign Alvarez took part in killing the children.

Investigators did not provide specifics on how the children were killed, and a prosecutor said investigators did not know whether a motive had been determined and that Indiana law did not require motive to try the case.

Verbatim statements

Police Capt. Steven Mock said:

"Details, including physical evidence, leading to this probable cause arrest will not be answered,"Mock said.

Hill described his view of motive:

"I don't think there's anybody on this earth that can suggest to me a reason for killing children. So I'm not too concerned about what motive might be there," he said.

Arrest

Alvarez was found unconscious with a faint pulse on Nov. 14 in the basement of her Elkhart home next to the bodies of the four children. Fernando Valdez discovered the bodies and ran into the street yelling for someone to call police.

Police initially thought Alvarez was also dead but later discovered she had a faint pulse.

Alvarez was arrested in the hospital where she had been critical condition and was placed under arrest in connection with their deaths.

Trial

Alvarez pleaded guilty to four counts of murder.

As part of a plea agreement, Alvarez pleaded guilty after being found competent to stand trial. A judge ordered mental-competency evaluations; when split opinions were returned, he ordered a third and then declared her incompetent in May. She went to a state hospital in Logansport, where doctors saw improvement and declared her fit to stand trial.

After her admissions in court, the judge accepted the plea deal and found her guilty of the four murders.

Prior to sentencing, defense attorney Juan Garcia told the court that Alvarez expressed remorse.

Verbatim statements

Defense attorney Juan Garcia said:

“In spite of what she did, I don’t want anyone in the public to think that she is a monster,” Garcia said.

Prosecuting Attorney Curtis T. Hill said:

“There was a clear conscious at the time. She had a plan and systematically thought it through and executed it. That equals murder,” Hill said.

Garcia told the court:

“Mental health issues should be treated with the same severity as physical health issues,” Garcia said.

After sentencing, Gonzalo Lopez spoke to the court and said:

“I have peace and tranquility and have forgiven her,” Lopez said through a translator.

Hill said:

“This didn’t have to happen, but locking her up for the rest of her life does,” Hill said.

Alvarez stated through a translator:

“sincerely repented and I accept my responsibility.”

In court, Juan Garcia Jr. asked Alvarez about her decision, and Alvarez answered:

"On that date," Garcia asked her, "would you agree that you decided to kill yourself and your four children?"
"Si," she said, dabbing her eyes.

In describing what the children were like at the time, Alvarez said:

"They were sleeping," she said through an interpreter.

Garcia later described the situation:

"It's rather complex what led to all of this. It's basically a situation where she was feeling overwhelmed," he said.

Garcia said about her after discharge:

"She thought the children would be better off in heaven. That sounds odd to you and me, but that's where she was mentally at the time," Garcia said.

Garcia said about the case theory discussed in court:

"The issue was not only did she want to kill herself, but her four children. Basically, she thought her children were better off in heaven. I know it sounds odd to you and me, but that's where she was mentally at that point."

Hill said regarding seeking the death penalty:

"I'd be hard pressed to find you very many circumstances in which a case called for the death penalty more. Even if we sought a death penalty and received it, we're talking about serving several years of wrangling through the appellate courts and determining whether or not she possessed the mental capacity for a death penalty situation.”

Sentencing

In Elkhart County Circuit Court, Alvarez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on September 23, 2007.

Hill said he would have preferred the death penalty for Alvarez but opted against seeking it, and locking her up for the rest of her life was the chosen punishment.

Alvarez stated she sincerely repented and accepted responsibility.

The judge scheduled sentencing for Sept. 27, though it was presented as a formality because the life sentence had been agreed.

Alvarez was to be incarcerated at the Indiana Department of Corrections.

Outcome

Alvarez pleaded guilty to four counts of murder following the deaths of her four children, and she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on September 23, 2007.

Other details

Names and relationships mentioned

• Jennifer Lopez was one of Alvarez’s children.
• Gonzalo Lopez was one of Alvarez’s children and was described as the father of the two eldest children.
• Daniel Valdez was one of Alvarez’s children.
• Jessica Valdez was one of Alvarez’s children.
• Fernando Valdez was described as Alvarez’s husband and the father of the two younger children.
• Gonzalo Lopez was described as Alvarez’s ex-husband and the father of the two older children.

Public statements and community detail

A sixth-grader at Woodland Elementary School, Sylvia De La Cruz, left teddy bears, a rose, a cross, and a note that read: "We will miss you very much." She said:

"I just wanted to show that I really cared," she said.

After the sentencing and through a translator, Gonzalo Lopez said he had forgiven Alvarez.

Immigration and employment details mentioned

Alvarez was described as from Mexico and “illegally.” Officials at Norco Industries said she worked as a housekeeper for three years and quit in mid-September. The Mexican consulate and U.S. immigration officials were described as in touch with the prosecutor’s office. Hill said Alvarez’s citizenship status was not a concern:

"I don't think that really matters," he said.
"I don't care if she is an American citizen, I don't care if she's a Mexican national, I don't much care if she is from the planet Mars, when you commit a murder of a child in Elkhart County you will commit a steep price."

Injuries and medical response details mentioned

Alvarez was released from Elkhart General Hospital and transported to the Elkhart County jail on Nov. 22, 2006. She was expected to live at the time of the Nov. 16, 2006 reporting. People left flowers, teddy bears, and notes at the corner of the home in memory of the four children.