UPDATE: Mother of ‘Baby Brianna’ will serve parole in Plainview, Texas

Editor’s note: Yesterday, we reported Stephanie Lopez would be serving her parole in El Paso, based on information we got from a source with knowledge of the case. Today we learned Lopez reported to the parole office in Plainview, Texas. Our initial information was wrong and we apologize for that.

EL PASO — Baby Brianna’s mother, who was released from prison Wednesday morning, will serve the terms of her release in Plainview, Texas, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice told ABC-7 on Thursday.

On Wednesday, ABC-7 reported Stephanie Lopez would be serving her parole in El Paso, based on information we got from a source with knowledge of the case.

Today, ABC-7 learned Lopez reported to the parole office in Plainview, which is located between Lubbock and Amarillo.

Lopez’s parole features restrictive conditions that involve her wearing a GPS device around her ankle. She is considered an interstate compact parolee, which allows her to report and be supervised in another state.

Alex Sanchez, the deputy secretary of administration for the New Mexico Corrections Department, said Lopez’s parole requirements in Texas won’t be any different than if she were in New Mexico.

“I can tell you the requirements of her parole will be the same as if she were here, so she’s not allowed to associate with any other felons, she can’t have drugs or alcohol, she can’t break any state or local or city laws, federal laws,: Sanchez said. “She has to check in with her parole officer, she’s subject to random urinalisis testing, she’s subject to random home visits, she has to get a job or seek education opportunities.”

Lopez left the facility in Grants, N.M., after serving just shy of a 13-year sentence for the murder of her 5-month-old daughter.

She served less than half her sentence because under the law, she was eligible for “day-for-day good time,” and credit for time served in jail while waiting for trial.

The death was one of the worse abuse cases seen in Southern New Mexico.

Video from KOB-TV shows Lopez getting into a car driven by her mother after her release, her mother driving off without saying a word. Later, video showed the car stopping to pump gas in Los Lunas, Lopez trying to hide from the cameras.

Officials also said Lopez earned an associate degree in fine arts while she was in prison. She also received drug rehabilitation and counseling.

In 2003, Stephanie Lopez was sentenced to 27 years in prison for not doing anything while her 5-month-old daughter Brianna was repeatedly beaten, bitten, burned and raped by her father and uncle. Lopez was convicted of child abuse after her daughter died from the beating and sexual abuse she endured.

Brianna’s father, Andy Walters, and her uncle Stephen Lopez were sentenced to more than 50 years in prison in the case.

“The case sent shock waves through the community. Baby Brianna was horrifically tortured, raped, and murdered, and we all want the monsters who took part in this brutal crime to face justice,” Secretary of Corrections Gregg Marcantel said in a news release announcing Stephanie Lopez’s release.

“Unfortunately, the law at the time allowed these violent offenders to have a much lighter sentence that what they deserved.”

Stephanie Lopez wasn’t scheduled to be released until Saturday.

Since the death of Baby Brianna, the state of New Mexico has adopted Baby Brianna’s Law, which set a mandatory life sentence for child abuse resulting in the death of a child 13 or younger.

Effort to expand the law to children ages 14-18 have failed in the Legislature.

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez was the Doña Ana County district attorney who prosecuted the Baby Brianna case.

Since taking office, Martinez, a Republican, proposed reinstating the death penalty to include those charged with intentional child abuse resulting in death. She said she will continue pushing for the death penalty.