After an previous delay due to technical issues back in November, an El Dorado County Superior Court Judge sentenced a father Thursday morning after he was found guilty of killing his son in their Placerville home in 2020. Jordan Piper, 38, was sentenced to 15 years to life Thursday morning for the death of his 11-year-old son, Roman Lopez.
After a lengthy investigation, Piper and his wife, Lindsay Piper, stepmother to Roman, were arrested in February of 2021. The investigation began after Lopez’s was originally reported to be missing before his body was found in a storage bin in the basement of his family’s home in January of 2020
At the time of the case, without any obvious signs of trauma, law enforcement classified Lopez’s death as suspicious and began their investigation. The autopsy findings later reported revealed that Lopez was reported to be severely malnourished and dehydrated at the time of his death.
Back in May of 2022, Lindsay Piper pleaded no contest the child’s. She was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole in 15 years and a couple of months later. Jordan Piper’s sentence came after the result of a plea agreement was reached between his defense and the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office.
Jordan Piper is also serving a 15-year sentence after he pleaded guilty in another case for sexually exploiting an underage girl he secretly recorded. The incident took place at the same time as Roman’s death and the victim was reportedly living with the Piper family in the same residence with seven other children.
Piper has been in custody without bail since the time of his arrest. From the time his body was discovered, the Roman Lopez case made national headlines as investigators worked to solve the suspicious death of the young boy.