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Man charged in death of infant
By TIM ZATZARINY JR. and MARIANA De MAIO
Gannett News Service

VINELAND
When Guillermina Matias-Lopez was three months pregnant, she thought about giving up her unborn child for adoption.
She was estranged from the child's father and had little means to provide for a baby.
But her new boyfriend convinced her to keep the child, pledging to help her care for the baby as if it were his own.
On Wednesday afternoon, police charged that man, Randy Lopez-Rivas, with murdering the infant, who would have turned 3 months old today.
Police believe Lopez-Rivas, 19, killed Kimberley Lopez-Matias sometime Tuesday afternoon inside the apartment on South Fourth Street he shared with the girl and her mother.
Police allege he stuffed the infant's tiny body in a white garbage bag, then hid the bag behind a washer and dryer in the basement of the Center City home.
"The body was very battered," Police Chief Timothy Codispoti said.
Detective Lt. Thomas Ulrich said evidence indicates the girl was beaten to death. Police on Wednesday evening were awaiting the results of an autopsy performed earlier in the day by Dr. Lyla Perez, the Cape May/Cumberland County medical examiner.
Authorities could file more charges against Lopez-Rivas pending the autopsy results, Codispoti said.
Lopez-Rivas immigrated to the United States illegally from Guatemala, the chief said. Codispoti said he believed Matias-Lopez also was in the country illegally. On Wednesday afternoon, Matias-Lopez sat in a friend's living room on Grape Street, her dark eyes swollen from crying.
Through an interpreter, the grieving mother said she couldn't believe her only child was gone and her boyfriend was accused of ending the girl's short life.
Matias-Lopez, 22, said Wednesday afternoon she was waiting to see her daughter's body.
"I feel so bad," she said. "I don't know what I'm going to do without my baby. I don't believe my baby is dead."
The infant shares the surnames of her mother and the alleged killer.
Police alleged after Lopez-Rivas killed the girl Tuesday, he fled and took an NJ Transit bus from Vineland to Camden.
Transit police apprehended him about 1:20 p.m. Wednesday as he walked near the bus terminal in Camden.
As he was arrested, Lopez-Rivas burst into tears.
"I was drunk," he told transit police in broken English, authorities said.
He then admitted his role in the girl's death, according to police. Police have offered no motive for the slaying.
Vineland detectives interviewed Lopez-Rivas Wednesday evening before transporting him to Cumberland County Jail. His bail and an arraignment had not been set Wednesday evening.
Matias-Lopez came to the United States from Oaxaca, Mexico, in October 2005. She lived with cousins in Vineland before she met Lopez-Rivas last year when they worked together at a food-processing facility in Swedesboro.
Reach Tim Zatzariny at tzatzariny@thedailyjournal.com
Published: April 26. 2007 3:10AM