LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Friends and family members of 39-year-old Jerry Lopez came together at the intersection of Durango and Mistral Avenue Friday afternoon for a memorial service in his honor.
"Jerry's life was to love Jesus and to love others," said Karen Lopez, Jerry's wife. "He'd go somewhere and instantly become your best friend. He was there for his friends and his family. he was very faithful and his jobs, he was a very devoted husband and a father."
A friend of Lopez spoke at the memorial service to share more about Jerry:
God used this man to come into my life to transform me into the man I am today and is still doing a good work in me.
Lopez was killed during a carjacking near Durango and Mistral on Dec. 27, 2023.
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His wife, Karen, said he was driving to work in the family car but pulled off to the side after hearing police sirens. Moments later, the suspect, 36-year-old Justin Davidson, who had shot and killed his own mother, would also shoot and kill Lopez before taking off in the family car.
Channel 13 covered the story as soon as the news broke. Here is what his wife had to say last year:
The guy just pulled up behind him and shot Jerry, threw him out of the car, ran over him, and went up the street. I am praying that Jerry didn't know what was coming. That was just senseless; Jerry was a good citizen because he pulled over because he saw cop cars in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had literally just left for work.
Karen and Jerry had been married for 8 years. During that time, they had seven children, including six of them adopted through the Clark County foster care system. Five of the children have special needs.
"He served us in ways people will never understand— just coming home and jumping into the chaos and loving our kids," Karen said. "We still miss him every day. My kids still ask every day for their dad."
"My dad was probably one of the best humans you could ever meet. He was a prime example of what it is to live for god. And how to treat people, and how to be kind no matter your surroundings, and be a shining light in a room of darkness," said Anthony Lopez-Martinez, Jerry's eldest son.
Karen told Channel 13 that this holiday season was the hardest for their family.
"It was hard not having him there to wrap gifts, pick out gifts to-- obviously on Christmas morning all of our kids opened up their gifts and they were so happy, but not to have him sitting there enjoying in those moments watching just Christmas unfold... it felt empty and heavier," Karen said.
Amid the pain and heartache, Karen said she and her kids have not only received an outpour of support from their community, but her family has also been able to find comfort at the memorial they set up at the intersection where their lives changed forever.
They [kids] ask to come down to the crash site to come and sit and be with their dad. I usually keep flowers here, and every time we drive by, they're like, 'Hi, Daddy, we love you and miss you.' There's not a day that goes by that he's not talked about in our house, that he's not a part of everything that we are doing.
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the Lopez family's immediate needs.
