Family courts failed to protect 3-year-old Ellie Lorenzo, mother says

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — A South Bay mother fought for three years in Santa Clara County’s family court system for sole custody of her daughter. Beginning when Ellie Obi Lorenzo was an infant, the mother repeatedly warned court officials that Ellie was not safe with her father, claiming he was mentally unstable.

Family court judges granted the father, Jared Lorenzo, unsupervised visitation rights despite numerous warnings, court documents obtained by KRON4 Thursday show. A family friend said Ellie and her mom planned to move to Texas soon.

On July 11, Lorenzo picked 3-year-old Ellie up from her mother’s Mountain View home for another court-ordered unsupervised visit. He took Ellie to his apartment in Fremont, killed her, and hid the body in a dumpster, according to the San Jose Police Department.

On the morning of July 12, the father carried Ellie’s lifeless body into his car, drove the body to a San Jose dumpster, and threw the body inside, police said. Lorenzo, 42, then drove to San Francisco and killed himself, police said.

A recycling company employee found Ellie’s body and called 911. A Santa Clara County coroner told KRON4 that the little girl died from "craniocerebral injuries" due to blunt force head trauma. Her death was ruled a homicide.

Ellie’s mother, Chrystal Obi, works at Stanford University. She told KRON4 in a written statement, “For years, I feared constantly for Ellie's safety in the hands of her father, even with his limited access under shared custody. I wanted desperately for her constant supervision and safety. Ellie was stolen from me, her grandmother, and the rest of our family and friends in an evil and brutal manner.”

When Ellie was born in May 2021, her mother began having serious concerns about the father’s mental health and erratic behavior. Obi filed for divorce and sole child custody in 2021. In court documents she wrote, “After the birth of the baby, Jared’s behavior worsened substantially. He is erratic and unstable. Father is currently having some mental health issues and possibly narcotic use.”

On October 21, 2021, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge James Towery granted the father weekly two-hour visits with his baby while her grandmother and nanny supervised.

The court’s visitation order states that visits with the father were in “the best interest of the child.”

Lorenzo would suddenly disappear from home for long stretches of time. Obi wrote, “He comes and goes at all hours of the day and night since the birth of the child, always with the excuse that he is studying, yet cannot be reached.” Sometimes when the father would return home in the middle of the night, walk around the home talking to himself, and become increasingly agitated, court records state.

Lorenzo was taking university classes trying to earn a master of business administration. Obi said Lorenzo used Adderall. “I believe (Lorenzo) may be using illicit substances or abusing his prescription amphetamines. If he is using the Adderall combined with any narcotic, this could be the reason for his behavior,” the mother wrote in her custody petition.

The estranged couple began living separately with the father in Fremont and the mother in Mountain View. Ellie attended preschool in Mountain View and lived with her mother.

Lorenzo’s niece also warned family court judges about her uncle’s increasingly disturbing behavior. The niece wrote a letter to the court in support of Obi. “My uncle’s judgement has always been questionable, yet I never considered him to be cruel or vindictive until recently. His erratic behavior worries me greatly and I believe he needs help for his paranoia and delusions.”

Ellie's mother and father went to Santa Clara County family court dozens of times between 2021-2024 for their bitter custody battle, court records show. In December of 2022, a judge granted Lorenzo unsupervised visits with his daughter twice a week. “He shall have custody of Ellie from Thursday at 10 a.m. to Friday at 6 p.m.,” the court’s order states.

The court ordered Ellie’s father to undergo random drug testing, psychological evaluations, and therapy. It’s unclear which judge granted the December 2022 order. Lorenzo's most recent family court appearance took place on June 20, 2024.

According to Obi, Lorenzo knew that his Thursday, July 11 visit would be one of his last because the court approved the mother's request to move away from California. Obi wrote, “I kissed my daughter goodbye. I said I love you as she left for court-ordered visitation with her father. But my daughter never returned. Her father killed her.”

The San Jose Police Department identified Lorenzo as the suspected killer. He was the last person seen with Ellie alive on July 11. Sometime between 6 p.m. July 11 and 6 a.m. July 12, Ellie was killed, police said. Lorenzo was found dead in San Francisco at 11 a.m. on July 12.

Detectives are working to identify a motive in the case. SJPD Sgt. Jorge Garibay described Ellie's death as an “absolute tragic loss. It's horrendous. Whatever answers that we get, there's going to be no way to make sense of a tragic loss like this.”

David Patton, a family law attorney who has been practicing for more than 30 years, explained, “Courts look to strike a balance. We try and get these cases right, but this is a case of it going terribly wrong. It is a really, really sad ending.”

A GoFundMe page is raising donations to help pay for the little girl's funeral. The page states, “We remember Ellie for her big smile, friendly and playful spirit, and a life full of so much love.” A memorial service is being planned.

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