GLENDALE, Ariz. — The mother of a 2-year-old who died last year in Glendale could be sentenced to death if she and her boyfriend are found guilty of murdering the child.
Leilah Lopez, 21, and Johnny Brazell, 21, were arrested by Glendale police after they gave inconsistent accounts as to how 2-year-old Braxton died on May 16, 2023.
Earlier this year, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office filed a notice in court indicating prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty against the defendants if they're found guilty.
The defendants have also been re-indicted on several more felony charges, which accuse Lopez and Brazell of subjecting Braxton to various forms of abuse before his death.
Lopez and Brazell were initially indicted for murder and child abuse. The newest indictment charges them with 20 felony counts of kidnapping, aggravated assault, child abuse, conspiracy and first-degree murder.
All of the counts have been categorized as a "dangerous crime against children," a distinction that carries tougher penalties under Arizona law.
The defendants had initially claimed the child's injuries were caused by a dog but the medical examiner ruled Braxton's death was the result of homicide, records show.
The indictment accuses the defendants of subjecting the victim to abuse in the weeks and months leading up to his death.
The grand jury's document alleges the defendants confined the child to a room with no food, kicked him in the head, picked him up by his neck, shook him and slammed his body to the floor.
When the child was taken to the hospital in May 2023, medical staff reportedly observed suspicious injuries all over his body. Lopez eventually told police that Brazell has repeatedly injured the child to "discipline" him, records show.
At the time of the arrest, the defendants allegedly didn't show "any obvious remorse" after the child's death, records show.
Their trial is currently scheduled for November 2025.
If they are found guilty of murder, then the penalty phase of the trial would occur where the jury would have to decide whether to sentence the defendants to capital punishment.
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