‘I Don’t Have A Choice To Fall Apart’: Mother Of 7 Grapples With Loss Of Husband Killed In Las Vegas Carjacking Spree

[Sugar Cookie]

This is horrific

Friends and family say you couldn’t talk about Jerry Lopez without mentioning his big family.

While the 39-year-old delivery driver worked, his wife, Karen Lopez, homeschooled their seven children, most of whom were adopted by the couple after they fostered them through the Clark County foster care system. He was recently promoted and celebrated his 13-year battle for U.S. citizenship.

“He’d just come (home from work), throw his stuff down, not even change and just jump into the chaos of our day, roll around the floor, play with the kids,” Karen said inside a close friend’s Henderson home Thursday afternoon, speaking about her husband’s “family man” attitude. “All the kids would always scream, ‘Daddy’s home!’ as soon as they heard the garage go up.”

Now, those seven children are looking to their mother for comfort. She too is struggling to accept that Jerry was killed Wednesday morning by a man that just killed his own mother.

While en route to work around 4:00 Wednesday morning, a man in his 30s on a carjacking spree provoked officers to shoot at him multiple times. Police said he stole a patrol car after shooting his mother in a southeast valley neighborhood.

Jerry was in one of three civilian vehicles carjacked at gunpoint afterward. He was driving his family’s white van — the only vehicle large enough to transport their family of nine. Police said they heard a gunshot and the suspect pulling the occupant out.

When Jerry did not answer his phone, Karen drove to where the news said a shooting happened. She was on scene for five hours before anyone confirmed her husband was dead, she said.

“My stepdad had to catch me. I pretty much passed out. I just collapsed because I was like — I just kept saying, ‘No, no, it’s not real. It’s not real,’ ” Karen said, holding back tears. “(Jerry) pulled over after seeing the cop cars, and the guy just pulled up behind him and shot him and basically threw him outside the vehicle like a dog and ran over my husband and just took off.”

Over the next 24 hours, Karen said her children — ages 3 to 11 — learned their dad was gone.

“(The oldest child) just last night kept texting my husband’s phone. He said, ‘Mommy, I know he’s not going to answer, but I just want — hopefully he can still read them and I want him to know that I love him.’ And he said, ‘I guess now I’m going to have to be a father for all of the babies,’ ” Karen said.

“I’m just having to keep it together in front of my kids. I don’t know what that looks like, but I just know I have to. I don’t have a choice. I don’t have a choice to fall apart. I have my moments where I do, but I don’t have that luxury to fall apart because I have seven kids that are depending upon me.”

While an online search of Jerry’s name labels him a “carjacking victim,” that’s not how Karen and friends want him to be remembered. Instead, they reminisce about his involvement as a father, love as a husband, giving as a friend and dedication to his faith. Karen added he recently began coaching his son’s hockey team.

“Jerry wouldn’t ask for anything, but he would be there at the drop of a hat if somebody called him and needed something. He just would give you the shirt off his back,” Karen said, visibly transitioning between soft smiles and angry eyes. “I just want people to remember him for the loving person that he was, the family man that he was, the man of God that he was. Just the most kindness, (most gentle) soul. That’s who Jerry is. Not this victim.”

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‘I don’t have a choice to fall apart’: Mother of 7 grapples with loss of husband killed in Las Vegas carjacking spree

Friends and family say you couldn’t talk about Jerry Lopez without mentioning his big family. A day after a killer’s carjacking spree, the family is without their daddy and primary provider.…

www.8newsnow.com

Here is the gofundme which has already raised $251,114.

Donate to Support the Lopez Family after their Tragic Loss, organized by Piotr Tomasik

Help support the 7 children of Jerry Lopez who was senselessly murdered… Piotr Tomasik needs your support for Support the Lopez Family after their Tragic Loss

www.gofundme.com

 

[cubby]

And he's been fighting for 13 years for citizenship.

Yeah, it does not make sense.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

I doubt this brings the family any comfort but thankfully their father's killer was shot down like the wild animal he was.

The suspect was identified as 36-year-old Justin Davidson. According to Yatomi, he had a lengthy criminal history dating to 2009, including arrests on drug and weapons charges.

Yatomi said Davidson had been wearing camouflage clothing and a “tactical vest” while armed with a stolen AR rifle and an “AK-47-style rifle” with an obliterated serial number.

The rampage began before dawn Wednesday, when officers were called to investigate reports of gunfire coming from the desert near Davidson’s childhood home in southeastern Las Vegas. Yatomi said the suspect’s parents were woken up by the gunshots and, believing their son was firing rounds in the desert, drove there to look for him.

According to police, Davidson opened fire on his parents just as officers arrived, killing his mother, Liza Leveille-Davidson.

Yatomi said the suspect then fired at officers, and as they ran for cover, Davidson shot out the windows of a police cruiser. He sped away toward the southwestern edge of the city.

Security footage played during the news conference showed Davidson carjacking bystanders at gunpoint at two different gas stations during the pursuit. Yatomi said a Las Vegas police officer fired nine rounds at the suspect during the first carjacking, striking him at least once.

After the second carjacking, Nevada State Police troopers joined the chase.

That’s when the suspect encountered a white van pulling over to make room for the emergency vehicles. In an attempt to evade the growing number of officers chasing him, police said, the suspect shot the driver multiple times.

Police dashcam video showed the suspect pushing the victim’s motionless body out of the van and running him over as he raced off, stirring up a cloud of dust.

Karen Lopez said her husband, 39-year-old Gerardo “Jerry” Lopez-Martinez, had just left for work as a driver for a medical linen supply company and was minutes away from their home when he was killed. Lopez-Martinez was a father to seven children between the ages of 3 and 11, six of whom were adopted.

With Davidson behind the wheel of Lopez-Martinez’s van, Yatomi said officers fired 53 rounds at the vehicle, striking the suspect multiple times.


The van came to a stop a short time later. SWAT officers approached the van and discovered the suspect was dead.

Had Davidson survived, Yatamoi said he would have faced a slew of charges, including two counts of murder, assault on a police officer, grand larceny and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Yatomi said detectives combed the desert area where the suspect started firing off shots. They found loaded magazines of various calibers in multiple locations, but investigators don’t yet know if the ammunition was left behind when the police chase began or if the suspect had been hiding them in the desert for some time.

Suspect in 2 killings, high-speed chase was armed with stolen rifle from Vegas gun show, police say

Authorities say a man who fatally shot his mother two days after Christmas and set off a high-speed police chase through the suburbs of Las Vegas was armed with two rifles.

apnews.com

They gave an update on the GoFundMe

$468,221 raised of $600,000 goal

Donate to Support the Lopez Family after their Tragic Loss, organized by Piotr Tomasik

Help support the 7 children of Jerry Lopez who was senselessly murdered… Piotr Tomasik needs your support for Support the Lopez Family after their Tragic Loss

www.gofundme.com