Juan Andres Lopez, 41, of Miami, Florida in the US allegedly recorded videos of his girlfriend who suffered extensive second-degree burns. She later died in hospital
A man has been accused of filming himself sexually abusing his seriously injured girlfriend after she suffered burns to 90% of her body. Juan Andres Lopez, 41, allegedly failed to seek medical help for nearly a day after she was injured.
The 23-year-old woman, who has not been named in order to protect her privacy, later died. He was arrested last week and charged with sexual battery and multiple drug offences following her death.
Lopez, of Miami, Florida in the US, is said to have recorded videos of her showing her badly burned body and appearing unresponsive. In another video he allegedly sexually abused her.
According to an arrest warrant, detectives said the woman suffered extensive second-degree burns before being taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where she was later pronounced dead.
Police claim that Lopez, who has been identified as a Texas-born security guard, spent hours attempting to treat the woman himself using a mixture of illegal drugs rather than seeking professional medical attention.
Detective Brian Bohne, of the North Miami Police Department, said investigators have since uncovered several videos on Lopez’s mobile phone showing the woman’s extensive injuries. Authorities also allege one of the videos showed Lopez sexually abusing the victim.
First responders were reportedly called to the home hours after the initial incident took place. But they were prevented from immediately entering the home after Lopez refused to let them inside, according to investigators.
Police said Lopez told paramedics that his girlfriend “takes ecstasy and has a drug problem and didn’t feel the pain”. He also allegedly claimed she had been “awake and breathing” shortly before he called 911.
According to investigators, Lopez claimed that the woman had accidentally burned herself while lighting a candle intended to mask the smell of rubbing alcohol used to clean the home after a stray cat that they had taken in defecated inside.
He also allegedly claimed to have video evidence showing the woman refusing medical treatment after he suggested that she go to the hospital.
Detectives later searched Lopez’s phone and reportedly found a number of incriminating internet searches including “how 2 treat second degree burns”, “boric acid for burns”, “oxy for burn pain” and “fetty distribution Miami charges”, using a slang term for fentanyl.
Police said the searches indicated Lopez was aware of the severity of the injuries that the woman had sustained and that he was clearly avoiding seeking medical help. Investigators also claimed Lopez had sent several messages from his phone saying that he planned to give the woman drugs “to make her sleepy” and get her into a car while drowsy.
According to the warrant, Lopez also contacted the woman’s sister on Facebook, allegedly stating that he believed she was going to overdose. Other messages sent via WhatsApp reportedly suggested he believed he was “going to jail”.
Detectives said they also recovered disturbing videos allegedly showing the woman lying in a large black plastic tote bag containing an unknown soap-like liquid while in a shower. The authorities said that in these videos, Lopez could be heard telling the woman to stop moving and telling her that he had made a hole in the bag to ensure she didn’t drown, among other comments.
Authorities further allege Lopez attempted to delete another distressing video that had been recovered from the phone.
Toxicology results later found cocaine, fentanyl, ketamine and methamphetamine in the woman’s blood, though the authorities have not revealed whether medical examiners drew any conclusions about her cause of death.
Following his arrest on Friday (May 15), a Miami-Dade judge ordered that Lopez be held in custody without bail on charges of sexual battery of a physically helpless victim, methamphetamine trafficking and a series of other drug-related charges. He was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami. It is not yet clear whether more charges are pending.
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