The horrific suffering of a young girl who was abused by her own mother in an escalating campaign of physical, emotional and sexual abuse is the 'worst case of child abuse' authorities had ever seen. The tragic case ended with the six-year-old child being murdered by her mother, leaving other family members - and the public - devastated by the shocking death.

In November 1995, the murder of Elisa Izquierdo, aged six, took place in Manhattan, New York City. The little girl, who was her father's 'princess', died of a brain haemorrhage which was inflicted by her own mum, Awilda Lopez, after prolonged child abuse from 1994 and 1995.

Awilda Lopez was addicted to crack cocaine when baby Elisa was born on February 11, 1989, in Woodhull Hospital in New York. Lopez had lost custody of her two older children due to her drug addiction.

This meant full custody of baby Elisa was initially awarded to her father, Gustavo Izquierdo and he was reportedly a caring dad to the little girl, celebrating her birthdays with love and banquets. A family friend said at the time that little Elisa 'was his life' and 'he would always say she was his princess'.

Then a run of events led to Eisa being returned to the custody of her mother with terrible consequences - and the child welfare missed numerous 'obvious' opportunities to intervene as time passed and sickening prolonged abuse was carried out by Lopez.

Elisa was compared to a modern-day Cinderella after initially experiencing the protection of her loving father and even becoming a friend of Prince Michael of Greece. The prince offered to pay for her private tuition, but tragically, Eliza was placed into the permanent custody of her mother and new stepfather Carlos Lopez, leading to the shocking abuse and then murder.

Lopez withdrew Elisa from the private school she had been attending - and the six-year-old's true father, Gustavo, then died. Elisa became withdrawn and emotionally disturbed. Physical symptoms were noticed by the school's principal, she had numerous bruises, couldn't walk properly, needed to urinate frequently - and the little girl started to tear her own hair out.

On March 14, 1995, an anonymous letter was posted to the Manhattan Child Welfare Authorities - it reported Awilda Lopez had cut off Elisa's hair and it said the girl was being locked in a dark room for extensive periods of time but authorities did not intervene due to a 'lack of evidence'.

By this time, the mother had reverted to regular crack cocaine use and Lopez then took Elisa out of school in December 1994. This was the beginning of the end for the little girl as she became a target for abuse by her mother and new stepfather, who was also a drug user.

Neighbours reported hearing the child being beaten and abused with cries of "Mommy, Mommy, please stop! No more! I'm sorry", but no welfare action was taken. But little Eliza was suffering terribly, being punched, beaten, forced to to eat her own faeces - and Lopez had mopped the floor with her daughter's head.

The child's head, face, lips, and body had been burned, she'd been sexually violated with a hairbrush or toothbrush - and hung from a shower rod for 'entertainment' in the sickened hands of her drug addict mother and stepfather.

On the evening of November 22 1995, Lopez called one of her sisters, Mercy Torres, to report that Elisa was 'like retarded on the bed' with fluid coming out of her nose and mouth, but despite her sister's advice, Lopez did not take her daughter to hospital.

The next morning, Lopez invited a neighbour to come and see Elisa's tragic lifeless body - and this neighbour immediately called police and an ambulance as Lopez threatened to kill herself.

Lopez then confessed to throwing six-year-old Elisa head-first into a concrete wall, adding that the girl had not talked nor walked after this incident. An autopsy revealed prolonged abuse and trauma including broken bones, damage to internal organs and numerous burns across her head, face and body as well as evidence of ongoing sexual abuse.

An official said 'in my 22 years of service with the New York City Police Department, this is the worst case of child abuse I have ever seen'. The mother pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a term of 15 years to life imprisonment - and welfare services were heavily criticised by the judge.

Awilda Lopez had pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder at the time, in 2010 her parole was refused, but on April 19, 2022 her parole was granted and this mother, who murdered her innocent six-year-old daughter, was released.

Little girl's horror death at hands of her own mother in 'worst case of child abuse ever seen' - The Mirror