Abusive Stepmother Poisoned 11-Year-Old Boy, Left His Remains To Rot In Storage Bin

The stepmother of an 11-year-old child in California, who faced charges for the boy's abuse and murder after his death was marked “suspicious” by police officers, has been slapped with a 15-year-to-life sentence on Friday after taking a plea deal claiming no contest for his death.

Lindsay Piper, the 38-year-old stepmother of dead 11-year-old child Roman Lopez, was sentenced after pleading no contest to the second-degree murder charges against her. In exchange for that plea, Piper received a 15-to-life sentence with the possibility of parole, as well as the dropping of other charges like torture and child abuse, according to Law&Crime.

“It’s truly appalling and horrific to know what this little boy went through at the hands of Piper,” Judge Vicki Ashworth said while sentencing Piper.

Lopez was first reported missing by his 36-year-old father Jordan Piper in January 2020 in California, two months after he and his family moved into the area. The local police labeled it “suspicious,” but did not have reason to charge the family until his body was found in a storage bin inside their house over a year later, FOX 40 reported.

“After an initial search of the home was unsuccessful, a second more extensive search of the home was launched. Placerville Police investigators then located Roman’s deceased body inside a storage bin inside the basement of the home,” Placerville Police Chief Joseph Wren said.

Among the damning things found in Jordan Piper’s possession was a cellular phone full of nude or naked images and videos of Lopez and of his seven other siblings. A camera that was affixed to a wall outlet was also found with disturbing content.

“Approximately 433 nude images of Minor Victim 1 were found on Jordan Piper’s cell phone in the cache and screenshots section of the phone, as well as cache folders and screenshot folders in a secure folder on the phone,” the complaint said.

“Many of those images created by Jordan Piper were focused shots of Minor Victim 1’s genitals or pubic area. In addition, the video camera was placed in a manner to maximize the chances of recording the genitals of Minor Victim 1 and other users of the bathroom.”

Jordan Piper was charged with the sexual exploitation of a child after a thorough investigation of the footage.

Before the plea deal was given to Lindsay Piper, both of the couple had pleaded not guilty in court for poisoning, child abuse, and torture, and then later on for the additional murder charges pushed against them.