Elisa Izquierdo, six, was murdered by her mother, Awilda Lopez, in November 1995 after a campaign of physical, emotional and sexual abuse – and the child welfare missed numerous ‘obvious’ opportunities to intervene
Child abuse victim Elisa Izquierdo was murdered by her own mother on November 1995 in Manhattan, New York
The harrowing ordeal of a young girl who was subjected to escalating physical, emotional and sexual abuse by her own mother has been described as the ‘worst case of child abuse’ ever witnessed by authorities. The tragic tale culminated in the murder of the six-year-old by her mother, leaving family members and the public reeling from the shocking loss.
In November 1995, the brutal murder of Elisa Izquierdo took place in Manhattan, New York City. The little girl, who was her father’s ‘princess’, died from a brain haemorrhage inflicted by her own mother, Awilda Lopez, following prolonged child abuse throughout 1994 and 1995.
Awilda Lopez was battling a crack cocaine addiction when baby Elisa was born on February 11, 1989, at Woodhull Hospital in New York. Due to her drug dependency, Lopez had already lost custody of her two older children.
This resulted in full custody of baby Elisa being initially granted to her father, Gustavo Izquierdo. He was reportedly a devoted dad to the little girl, marking her birthdays with affection and lavish celebrations.
A family friend recalled that Elisa ‘was his life’ and ‘he would always say she was his princess’, reports the Mirror.
Awilda Lopez was addicted to crack cocaine(Image: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Susan Stava)
However, a series of events led to Elisa being returned to the custody of her mother with disastrous results – and child welfare services missed numerous ‘obvious’ opportunities to intervene as the horrific abuse by Lopez continued unabated.
Elisa’s story has been likened to a modern-day Cinderella tale, having once enjoyed the protection of her doting father and even befriending Prince Michael of Greece. The prince had offered to fund her private education, but sadly, Elisa was permanently placed in the care of her mother and new stepfather Carlos Lopez, which led to horrifying abuse and ultimately, murder.
Lopez removed Elisa from the private school she had been attending – and then her biological father, Gustavo, passed away. Elisa became introverted and emotionally unstable.
The school’s headmaster noticed physical signs of abuse; she had multiple bruises, struggled to walk, needed to urinate frequently, and distressingly, began to pull out her own hair.
On 14 March 1995, an anonymous letter was sent to the Manhattan Child Welfare Authorities – it claimed that Awilda Lopez had cut off Elisa’s hair and alleged that the child was being confined in a dark room for long periods. However, authorities did not take action due to a ‘lack of evidence’.
By this point, the mother had returned to regular use of crack cocaine and Lopez subsequently withdrew Elisa from school in December 1994. This marked the beginning of the end for the young girl as she became a target for abuse by her mother and new stepfather, who was also a drug user.
Neighbours reported hearing the child being beaten and abused with cries of “Mommy, Mommy, please stop! No more! I’m sorry”, but no welfare action was taken. But little Eliza was suffering dreadfully, being punched, battered, forced to eat her own faeces – and Lopez had mopped the floor with her daughter’s head.
Awilda Lopez, mother of slain Elisa Izquierdo, cries during sentencing for the murder of her daughter(Image: Associated Press)
The child’s head, face, lips, and body had been burnt, she’d been sexually violated with a hairbrush or toothbrush – and hung from a shower rod for ‘entertainment’ in the twisted hands of her drug addict mother and stepfather.
On the evening of November 22 1995, Lopez rang one of her sisters, Mercy Torres, to report that Elisa was ‘like retarded on the bed’ with fluid coming out of her nose and mouth, but despite her sister’s advice, Lopez did not take her daughter to hospital.
The next morning, Lopez invited a neighbour to come and see Elisa’s tragic lifeless body – and this neighbour immediately called police and an ambulance as Lopez threatened to kill herself.
Lopez then confessed to hurling Elisa head-first into a concrete wall, adding that the girl had not talked nor walked after this incident. A post-mortem revealed prolonged abuse and trauma including broken bones, damage to internal organs and numerous burns across her head, face and body as well as evidence of ongoing sexual abuse.
An official stated, ‘in my 22 years of service with the New York City Police Department, this is the worst case of child abuse I have ever seen’. The mother admitted her guilt and was handed a sentence of 15 years to life imprisonment – and welfare services were heavily lambasted by the judge.
Awilda Lopez had admitted to second-degree murder at the time. In 2010, her parole was denied, but on 19 April 2022, her parole was granted and this mother, who took the life of her innocent six year old daughter, was set free.