Woman sentenced to 40 years in prison for injuring child

BRYAN, Texas — A 24-year-old College Station woman has been sentenced to four decades in prison for actions in 2022 that nearly killed an infant.

According to the Brazos County Prosecutor's Office, Berta Lopez-Vasquez was watching a five-month-old child while her mother was at work on January 19, 2022 when the child began crying. She eventually became frustrated with the child because he wouldn't stop crying, and decided to shake him and even threw him against a wall. After being thrown against the wall, the child began convulsing and stopped breathing.

The child's mother was then contacted by Lopez-Vasquez after being convinced by her husband, whom she only called after seeing the extent of the child's injuries. López-Vasquez also refused to take the child to a doctor or call an ambulance.

Lopez-Vasquez told the child's mother that her child was not breathing normally. When the child's mother arrived home, she immediately took the child to St. Joseph Hospital will receive medical care.

After being examined by St. Joseph staff, they made the decision to transport the infant to Texas Children's Hospital, a level one trauma center. The child had multiple skull fractures, bruises all over his body, retinal hemorrhage from the shaking and a severe brain hemorrhage.

College Station police were notified of the infant's injuries after he was seen by staff and became involved in the case.

Although the nearly three-year-old victim continues to have issues related to the abuse, her recovery has been described as “miraculous” and medical professionals say actions taken by those at St. Joseph and Texas Children's have saved the child's life. The child's mother also thanked the medical staff and thanked God for keeping her son alive.

“The defendant injured an innocent, defenseless child and left him with lifelong injuries as a result of his abuse,” Assistant Prosecutors Jessica Escue, Kevin Capps and Anjelica Harris said in a news release. “Our office will continue to protect the most vulnerable members of our community by responding strongly to anyone who harms a defenseless child.

Lopez-Vasquez received his sentence after pleading guilty Thursday to injury to a child causing serious bodily injury.