KINGMAN – A Kingman man arrested for abandoning his infant while intoxicated entered a plea agreement Wednesday in Mohave County Superior Court. Raymond Lopez, 43, pleaded guilty to child abuse by domestic violence for leaving his child unattended in a vehicle for about 2 hours in the heat in north Kingman.

Deputy Mohave County Attorney Jacob Cote said the temperature reached 95 degrees on July 26 when Sheriff’s Deputies responded to his wife’s mid-afternoon request for help in locating a drunken Lopez and their one-year-old son. Lopez was found sleeping in his home in the 2300 block of Leroy Avenue and the boy was discovered in his vehicle, parked about one block away.

“Deputies located the vehicle and found the child still strapped into a car seat inside the non-running vehicle with the windows up,” said Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Anita Mortensen. “The child was removed from the vehicle and was evaluated by medical personnel and found to have no injuries.”

Mortensen said deputies used OnStar to quickly locate the vehicle and the boy. She also said residential surveillance videos showed Lopez parking, exiting the vehicle, and walking away.

Mortensen said the couple had traveled together with the baby to pick up their other two children from school. Mr. Lopez, their baby, and the vehicle had vanished by the time Mrs. Lopez exited the school with the other kids.

During the change of plea hearing, Cote told Judge Doug Camacho that testing conducted several hours after the father and son had been located that Lopez’ blood alcohol content was .253, more than four times the legal limit for operating a motor vehicle in Arizona. Cote said Lopez offered a flippant response when asked about endangering his son by his intoxicated actions.

“The defendant says he lives to drink and drinks to live,” Cote told the Court.

Terms of the plea deal require Judge Camacho to order at least 180 days jail if he places Lopez on probation during an Oct. 14 sentencing hearing. Incarceration will be capped at 3 years if the Judge instead imposes a prison term.

Dave Hawkins