Man pleads not guilty in slaying of girlfriend’s daughter, 2

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Wednesday, April 20, 2005 | 9:18 a.m.

A 26-year-old man charged with murdering his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.

Osvaldo Lopez is scheduled to stand trial on June 20 before District Judge Michael Cherry on charges that he abused and killed Jada Southall

Prosecutors allege that while Roxie Southall was working at a Target store, Lopez became irritated by Jada's crying and shook the little girl with such force Jada died due to subdural hematoma, or bleeding of the brain.

Lopez allegedly admitted to a Metro Police detective that he had thrown Jada about four feet onto the living room couch because she was crying after her mother left for work, according to his arrest report.

Roxie Southall testified at Lopez's preliminary hearing that she didn't believe Lopez killed her daughter. She instead suggested Jada's injuries were caused by either the child's own clumsiness or due to blows delivered by her 18-month-old brother.

Lopez's attorney, Brent Percival, said he believed the case would ultimately be a "battle of experts" due to the fact doctors involved in examining Jada said the injuries causing her death could have happened within two to six days of her death.

"A large part of this case will be about not whether the girl got an injury -- it's going to be about how and when," Percival said.

Percival said a two- to six-day time span is "a very big window" and Jada could have been under the care of other people during that period.

The defense attorney said because Lopez was the last person around Jada before she was rushed to the hospital, he's been placed in a difficult place.

"Unfortunately it's usually the last person to see the child that gets charged in these cases," Percival said.

Lopez is also facing charges of child abuse and neglect for allegedly harming both Jada and her little brother. Lopez had been arrested for violence in the past, according to Metro Police records.

Police arrested him for domestic battering four times between September 1999 and May 2001, and he was convicted of the charge once, according to police. His criminal record also includes arrests for battery and automobile burglary in 2004; drug offenses, possession of a deadly weapon, traffic violations, possession of stolen property and resisting police in 2003; and possession of a controlled substance in 1999.