I attended Baby Briannas memorial service in 2002, when I heard of her brutal death on the news. Upon entering the Immaculate Heart Of Mary Church, I noticed it was packed with our community members. There was no standing room, the overflow of visitors were carried out in the greeting area. I remember listening to Bishop Ricardo Ramirez giving his euology and crying so many tears of sadness. There was a very large touched up photo of Baby Brianna, from her autopsy. The detectives did not find one photo of Baby Brianna during her lifetime at the time of the investigtion of her brutal murder at the trailer, where she was murdered. After Bishop Ramirez finished his heart breaking euology, the community members lined up to pay their respects to Baby Brianna, using the only source available, the large touched up autopsy photo. Many kissing her photo, many doing the sign of the cross on her beautiful face, everyone with tears streaming down their face, many sobing uncontollably, me included. During the several past years since her passing, I have oftened visited Baby Brianna's resting place. I remember going in 2002, shortly after her funeral services and seeing that a cage had been placed over her burial site. A cage filled with trash and weeds, locked up to keep the world away. I was shocked when I saw this large black cage, with a lock on it and an angel inside with a finger over it's lip as if to be saying please..... don't......speak about this. Outraged, the members of our community began going to the cemetary and cutting off the locks. One time, even peeling the top of the cage open, so that they could place some flowers and a stuffed teddy bear inside. It was unkept, lonely and unloved. A sad place, a reminder of a baby that died a brutal murder, noone caring enough to claim her tiny body, noone caring enough to place a headstone, noone caring enough to take care of her resting place, giving Baby Brianna some dignity, some respect. Sadly, something she never knew in life and neither in death. A place I hated to visit, but I did, to pay my respects to this tiny, innocent angel through out so many past years. On December of 2011, I walked up to her resting place and was in awe, when I noticed that the ugly black cage no longer had a lock on it. And there were beautiful benches, later finding out that they had been donated by "The Remember Me Foundation". The door of the cage was not locked, although, it was closed and for the first time in many, many years, I made a promise to Baby Brianna, that as long as I could help it, her cage door would remain open and unlocked, and it would no longer be a cage. I proceeded to open the closed door and placed something in front of it so that it could not be shut by accident. And now when I go visit her, I pray that it will remain opened, and so far, my prayers have been answered. Praise God! Each time I viist her I can see that members of baby Brianna's World Wide Loving Family members leave gifts of love from the heart for her, in her memory. I have taken those gifts of love and I have placed them around her resting area. And I have taken something that has been an eye sore and something very negative in our community and have chosen to create something positive, something beautiful, it is now a beautiful "shrine", created with love from my heart in her memory. No longer a lonely, ugly, trash filled, locked, cage, but a beautiful "shrine", for our Baby Brianna. I have placed gifts there sent from California, New Jersey, and as far away as Holland, Germany, and Italy, England amongst other places around the world. It is no longer a sad place to visit. It is a happy place, a place where Baby Brianna's spirit soars freely and she visits often. Her "shrine" has colorful pinwheels along the front, some of which have been donated. Often when I talk to Baby Brianna telling her how much she is loved by her "World Wide Loving Family", when there is no breeze, the pinwheels will begin spinning, sometimes just one or two, sometimes all of them. At times, a bird will bless me with his presence and land in a tree and sit there and just sing his little heart out. There are days that is it is so peaceful roosters crowing, birds singing, the pinwheels spinning. One rainy day I went to visit her resting place and as I was sitting on the benches talking to her an angel appeared in the sky. The angel appeared to have a sword in her hand. A warrior angel with a sword to fight against this travesty and silent epidemic called "child abuse". It appeared to be a sign from Baby Brianna, not to stop our fight against "child abuse"! I knew then that Baby Brianna is in heaven looking down on all of us and supporting our cause, our fight against "child abuse". Something of very low importance in the government of the U.S. It took Baby Brianna's death to make changes in the law. Why must a baby die for changes to be made to protect our children from dying? The days I go and see signs and feel the presence of Baby Brianna, I know she did not die in vain. And, it is those days, that I feel the presence of Baby Brianna's spirit. For she is no longer the bruised and battered baby we so often see photos of. She is now a butterfly fluttering in the breeze. She is the brightest star in the darkest night. She is finally free, she earned her wings to fly, to fly safe in the arms of our Lord and Saviour, never to be harmed again. She is free to soar to new heights and to finally be the baby she was never allowed to be in life. Free to be loved and respected by all who know and love Baby Brianna. We love you Baby Brianna, our Forever Baby, always and forever more. I will not let you down. I love you, Baby Brianna and you will always be in my heart!
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Brianna Mariah Lopez born on
February 14, 2002 and passed away on
July 19, 2002 in Las Cruces, NM. You will live forever in our memories and hearts. This memorial website was created to remember our dearest Brianna-Mariah Lopez in Heaven.
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| Patricia McDaniel | <In Honor of Baby Brianna ~ Our Forever Baby> | June 27, 2013 |
I attended Baby Briannas memorial service in 2002, when I heard of her brutal death on the news. Upon entering the Immaculate Heart Of Mary Church, I noticed it was packed with our community members. There was no standing room, the overflow of visitors were carried out in the greeting area. I remember listening to Bishop Ricardo Ramirez giving his euology and crying so many tears of sadness. There was a very large touched up photo of Baby Brianna, from her autopsy. The detectives did not find one photo of Baby Brianna during her lifetime at the time of the investigtion of her brutal murder at the trailer, where she was murdered. After Bishop Ramirez finished his heart breaking euology, the community members lined up to pay their respects to Baby Brianna, using the only source available, the large touched up autopsy photo. Many kissing her photo, many doing the sign of the cross on her beautiful face, everyone with tears streaming down their face, many sobing uncontollably, me included. During the several past years since her passing, I have oftened visited Baby Brianna's resting place. I remember going in 2002, shortly after her funeral services and seeing that a cage had been placed over her burial site. A cage filled with trash and weeds, locked up to keep the world away. I was shocked when I saw this large black cage, with a lock on it and an angel inside with a finger over it's lip as if to be saying please..... don't......speak about this. Outraged, the members of our community began going to the cemetary and cutting off the locks. One time, even peeling the top of the cage open, so that they could place some flowers and a stuffed teddy bear inside. It was unkept, lonely and unloved. A sad place, a reminder of a baby that died a brutal murder, noone caring enough to claim her tiny body, noone caring enough to place a headstone, noone caring enough to take care of her resting place, giving Baby Brianna some dignity, some respect. Sadly, something she never knew in life and neither in death. A place I hated to visit, but I did, to pay my respects to this tiny, innocent angel through out so many past years. On December of 2011, I walked up to her resting place and was in awe, when I noticed that the ugly black cage no longer had a lock on it. And there were beautiful benches, later finding out that they had been donated by "The Remember Me Foundation". The door of the cage was not locked, although, it was closed and for the first time in many, many years, I made a promise to Baby Brianna, that as long as I could help it, her cage door would remain open and unlocked, and it would no longer be a cage. I proceeded to open the closed door and placed something in front of it so that it could not be shut by accident. And now when I go visit her, I pray that it will remain opened, and so far, my prayers have been answered. Praise God! Each time I viist her I can see that members of baby Brianna's World Wide Loving Family members leave gifts of love from the heart for her, in her memory. I have taken those gifts of love and I have placed them around her resting area. And I have taken something that has been an eye sore and something very negative in our community and have chosen to create something positive, something beautiful, it is now a beautiful "shrine", created with love from my heart in her memory. No longer a lonely, ugly, trash filled, locked, cage, but a beautiful "shrine", for our Baby Brianna. I have placed gifts there sent from California, New Jersey, and as far away as Holland, Germany, and Italy, England amongst other places around the world. It is no longer a sad place to visit. It is a happy place, a place where Baby Brianna's spirit soars freely and she visits often. Her "shrine" has colorful pinwheels along the front, some of which have been donated. Often when I talk to Baby Brianna telling her how much she is loved by her "World Wide Loving Family", when there is no breeze, the pinwheels will begin spinning, sometimes just one or two, sometimes all of them. At times, a bird will bless me with his presence and land in a tree and sit there and just sing his little heart out. There are days that is it is so peaceful roosters crowing, birds singing, the pinwheels spinning. One rainy day I went to visit her resting place and as I was sitting on the benches talking to her an angel appeared in the sky. The angel appeared to have a sword in her hand. A warrior angel with a sword to fight against this travesty and silent epidemic called "child abuse". It appeared to be a sign from Baby Brianna, not to stop our fight against "child abuse"! I knew then that Baby Brianna is in heaven looking down on all of us and supporting our cause, our fight against "child abuse". Something of very low importance in the government of the U.S. It took Baby Brianna's death to make changes in the law. Why must a baby die for changes to be made to protect our children from dying? The days I go and see signs and feel the presence of Baby Brianna, I know she did not die in vain. And, it is those days, that I feel the presence of Baby Brianna's spirit. For she is no longer the bruised and battered baby we so often see photos of. She is now a butterfly fluttering in the breeze. She is the brightest star in the darkest night. She is finally free, she earned her wings to fly, to fly safe in the arms of our Lord and Saviour, never to be harmed again. She is free to soar to new heights and to finally be the baby she was never allowed to be in life. Free to be loved and respected by all who know and love Baby Brianna. We love you Baby Brianna, our Forever Baby, always and forever more. I will not let you down. I love you, Baby Brianna and you will always be in my heart!
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