Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that the case against Camila Pizarro-Vergara appeared to have been dropped. That case is ongoing.
Nearly six years after 4-year-old Moses Lopez died of serious injuries in Tracy, the man charged with abusing him was sentenced to nine years in prison on Tuesday.
In a tense conclusion to what the lead prosecutor described in court as a “tortuous” case, Oscar Munoz was sentenced to six years for willful cruelty to a child, with a three-year enhancement for causing great bodily injury, according to Judge Chrishna M. Martinez’s announcement Tuesday.
Munoz, Moses’ stepfather, had initially been charged with murder and child abuse and endangerment in the child’s November 2020 death.
Munoz recently accepted a deal to plead no contest to willful cruelty to a child in exchange for prosecutors dropping the murder charge against him, court records show.
Before court Tuesday, roughly 20 family members and other supporters rallied before the courthouse to protest what they described as an inadequate punishment for Munoz resulting from the deal.
Munoz was arrested in western Tracy five days after Moses’ death, along with the boy’s mother, Camila Pizarro-Vergara. Both were booked at the San Joaquin County Jail on suspicion of murder and great bodily injury to a child under 8.
Tracy police had received a call on Nov. 16, 2020, about a “child not breathing” at an apartment near 3800 W. Grant Line Road, according to a department announcement at the time. Moses, who was 4 at the time, was rushed to a hospital, where he died, police said.
Munoz and Pizarro-Vergara were formally charged days later, court records show.
Munoz’s case was brought to a grand jury in 2021, resulting in an indictment. But in 2022, a murder trial resulted in a hung jury, with most jurors voting for acquittal, the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement Tuesday.
“After reviewing the evidence and the testimony, our office accepted a plea,” officials said in the statement.
A case against Pizarro-Vergara is ongoing, a DA’s spokesperson said Tuesday. She is scheduled to appear in court for a further arraignment Wednesday, court records show.
In announcing the sentencing, Martinez said she would impose the maximum penalty allowed.
“You’ll have to live with this for the rest of your life,” she told Munoz.
Regarding the case’s history — and prosecutors’ decision to abandon the murder charge — lead prosecutor Elton Grau said: “We have fought every single day in this courtroom to bring Moses justice. … I could not prove this case.”
Moses’ father, Felipe Lopez, mourned his son — and the sentence — Tuesday. He read a statement to the court, saying, “For a 4-year-old, he was an old soul. He loved oldies,” he said of his son, adding that Moses would have been 10 now.
“He should be dancing to oldies in his room with the door closed because he’s embarrassed now,” Lopez said.
Vanessa Munoz, the defendant’s sister, described him as a “gentle heart.”
“I hope that (his) silence is not mistaken for a lack of compassion, remorse or humanity,” she said.
Christopher Varnell, Munoz’s attorney, said that while Munoz had prepared a statement, Varnell had advised his client against reading it. Varnell declined to comment after the sentencing.