Monday’s Indiana County Court schedule includes sentencing of a 22-year-old Blairsville man who pleaded guilty to charges in the death of an infant who fell from his van in Blairsville last August. Rony Gomez Lopez admitted guilt to misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter, a charge that was reduced from felony level. He also pled guilty to endangering the welfare of children and fleeing or attempting to elude, both felonies, and to misdemeanor simple assault, evading arrest on foot, resisting arrest, recklessly endangering, and DUI.
A woman and her baby fell out of an unsecured door as Lopez was punching her while he drove on Spring Street. While police were on the scene, Lopez’s van drove and they gave chase, a pursuit that ended when the vehicle hit a retaining wall along East Brown Street. Lopez ran away but was tased and taken into custody. The infant later died at a Pittsburgh hospital.
