DYER, Ind.
(AP) - Police charged a woman
with two counts of murder Thursday,
accusing her of beating her two sons
to death with a 10-pound dumbbell
because she thought they would be
better off in heaven.
Magdalena Lopez, 30, was arrested
Tuesday night after police, responding
to her 911 call, found 9-year-old
Antonio Lopez and 2-year-old Erik
Lopez dead in separate rooms of the
family's home in Dyer, 10 miles southwest
of Gary.
A police report said that as officers
approached the house, the woman walked
out with blood stains on her clothes
and bare feet.
According to the report, she told
officers, ``I had to kill them. They're
in a much better place now.''
An autopsy determined the boys died
of massive skull fractures caused
by the metal weight.
Irene Lopez said her daughter-in-law
was diagnosed with bipolar disorder
within the past year.
``She'd been sick for a good six months,''
Irene Lopez said. ``We took her to
specialists. She was hospitalized
once. We thought she was doing better,
but she fooled us. Only God knows
why this happened.''
The woman was being held at the Lake
County Jail without bond. A prosecutor
said she would likely have her first
court appearance Friday.
The boys' father, Robert Lopez, was
at work in East Chicago when he learned
about the deaths, said Dyer Police
Chief Richard Quinn. |