Suspect in child’s death to return to court

By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

A Santa Barbara man will return to court in May to set a date for his preliminary hearing on charges that he killed his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter.

Elvis Alberto Lopez, 25, appeared in court last Thursday to set that date, but the matter was continued to May 4 for a preliminary hearing setting, Supervising Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Karapetian told the News-Press.

Mr. Lopez was charged in a six-count felony complaint with the murder of 3-year-old “Jane Doe” on Feb. 4, with assault on a child causing death for the Feb. 4 incident, and with child abuse for an incident that occurred on Feb. 2, prosecutors said. In counts 4 through 6, “the defendant is charged with three separate incidents of child abuse that allegedly occurred between Sept. 1, 2022 and Feb. 1, 2023,” prosecutors said.

Mr. Lopez was previously convicted of a serious and violent felony, or “strike” offense, prosecutors said. If convicted in this case, he would receive a second strike, according to the complaint filed against him. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and he denied all special allegations. His bail is set at $4 million. email: nhartsteinnewspress@ gmail.com

Santa Barbara police dispatch received a 9-1-1 call reporting a medical emergency concerning the child at 1:33 p.m. on Feb. 4. The initial report was that a 3-year-old girl had fallen out of bed, injuring herself.

Santa Barbara City Fire and American Medical Response personnel were attending to the child, performing CPR, when police arrived. The child was taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Santa Barbara police detectives, with the assistance of the Santa Barbara County Coroner’s office, investigated the girl’s death. Based on the evidence gathered, the case was categorized as a homicide. Based upon their investigation of what police called “this heinous crime,” detectives identified Mr. Lopez, the boyfriend of the girl’s mother, as their prime suspect, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was contacted at his family’s residence by Santa Barbara Police Department detectives and taken into custody without incident, police said.

Grace Fisher appears in front of the Grace Fisher Foundation’s new Inclusive Arts Clubhouse, located

The grand opening of the facility will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. today.

By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS STAFF WRITER

The community is invited to the grand opening of the Grace Fisher Foundation’s Inclusive Arts Clubhouse today from 4 to 7 p.m.

The clubhouse is located at La Cumbre Plaza (Space F 118, next to the Museum of Sensory and Movement Experience) in Santa Barbara.

The site is designed to be a safe and welcoming space for children of all abilities to explore and express themselves through mediums such as art, music and dance. It’s also an outlet for social programming.

“This has been a dream since

I started the foundation back in 2016,” Grace Fisher told the News-Press. The Grace Fisher Foundation’s focus is on children and young adults living with a disability, but there are also programs in place for adults living with other conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and spinal cord injuries. And Ms. Fisher has been a strong advocate for youths of varying abilities. She’s been in their shoes.

She had to learn new ways to express herself creatively after being diagnosed in 2014 with acute flaccid myelitis. The rare spinal condition left Ms.

Fisher — at the time a Santa Barbara High School senior and an accomplished pianist, cellist and guitarist — paralyzed from the neck down. But she went on to compose music and paint pictures with special technology.

“I have been so grateful that throughout the years everyone has rallied behind me and wanted to support me any way that they could,” Ms. Fisher said.

“The dream that inspired it was when I got home from the hospital, I didn’t feel like there was a space dedicated towards inclusivity within the disabled community. I wanted a place where people could come