Leilah Lopez and Johnny Brazell killed Braxton Lopez: Cops

An Arizona mother and her boyfriend, both 20, were arrested this week for allegedly killing her 2-year-old son and then lying to police about the source of the boy’s horrific injuries.

Leilah Lopez and Johnny Brazell II were taken into custody on Tuesday and each have been charged with first-degree murder and child abuse in the brutal slaying of young Braxton Lopez, authorities announced. According to the Glendale Police Department in Arizona, officers and firefighters responded at approximately 10 a.m. on May 16 to a 911 call placed by Brazell, who allegedly told the emergency dispatcher that Braxton had been attacked by a dog earlier in the day and was no longer breathing.

Upon arriving at the scene, first responders allegedly observed multiple injuries to the child, including “numerous bruises all over Braxton,” GPD spokesperson Gina Winn said during a Wednesday press conference. Paramedics attempted life-saving measures on the child and transported him to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.

Medical personnel allegedly told police that Braxton had a multitude of injuries in different states of healing, indicating that he was the victim of prolonged and regular physical abuse. During the initial interviews of Lopez and Brazell, both allegedly provided “lengthy” stories about how Braxton had been attacked by a dog earlier in the day. Police said there were “a lot of discrepancies” in the narratives told by each suspect, however.