HOUSTON – A 4-year-old boy who was found dead on a Galveston beach last October and went unidentified for several months was laid to rest in Houston on Friday.
The public affectionately called the child "Little Jacob" until he was officially identified in June as Jayden Lopez.
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While few knew the 4-year-old boy, many turned out to give him a proper burial. Tears were shed as the child was buried in a white and gold casket.
La Paz Funeral Home donated a plot, the casket and vehicles for the procession.
"I've got seven grandkids," said Ruth Tores, a woman who attended the funeral. "I've got my daughter, you know? It's sad."
Authorities haven't said how Jayden died, but said that he was brought to Galveston by his mother, Rebecca Suzanne Rivera, and her girlfriend, Dania Amezquita Gomez.
Rivera is charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence. She is being held on $250,000 bond. Amezquita Gomez has been charged with a misdemeanor and is being held on a $100,000 bond. Both are currently in Galveston County Jail.
Officers said the child showed signs of abuse and that Rivera told them he hit his head a few weeks before he died.
Rivera was not at the ceremony because she is in jail.
"A mother is supposed to protect their child no matter what, and she failed," one woman who attended the funeral told KTRK.