The wife of a man killed Wednesday during an alleged carjacking says he was on his way to work when the tragedy unfolded.
39-year-old Jerry Lopez was killed by a man who stole his car while trying to escape police.
Karen Lopez, his wife, spoke with FOX5 following the incident.
“Always made me feel loved. There was never a doubt in my mind that he loved me,” Karen said of her husband. The two had been married for 13 years and had seven kids.
“Sometimes I would be cooking, and he would grab me and start dancing to nothing,” Karen said.
Six of the couple’s children were adopted.
“There were kids that needed a home and we had a home,” Karen said. “We were supposed to grow old together and raise them together.”
Jerry was a driver for a medical company and had recently been promoted, Fox 5 Vegas reported. He was eager to get to work that morning when tragedy struck.
“About four minutes up the street from our house, he just left for work, and he pulled over probably because he saw the police cars coming down the street,” Karen said.
Police were chasing a suspect who shot and killed his mom and was running from them through the Southwest Valley in Las Vegas.
At some point, Jerry and the suspect came face to face.
“The guy just walked up shot my husband threw him out of the vehicle ran him over and took our vehicle,” Karen continued.
Authorities informed Karen of the incident, saying their white van was involved in a chase and shootout. They also broke the bad news to her.
“My stepdad had to catch me because I just collapsed in the middle of the road kind of passed out because I couldn’t handle it, it didn’t seem real,” Karen said.
Karen is left to raise their seven children alone, with the oldest child being only 11. The family is also left without a vehicle. Their 12-passenger van was totaled during the incident.
“Last night he kept texting my husband’s phone and he said I know daddy isn’t going to answer but I hope daddy can still read the messages and know I love him,” she said.
