An Arizona man will serve the rest of his life in prison for the murder of his estranged wife, whom he stabbed over 40 times in front of their son.
Javier Lopez, 50, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Christina Lopez, 43, and received a life sentence on Friday. According to the Pinal County Attorney’s Office, on April 11, 2024, the defendant fatally stabbed the victim in front of their teenage son.
The teen overheard the commotion and asked his father if he had hurt his mother.
Police arrived at the home and discovered the victim dead in a pool of blood. Javier Lopez was arrested shortly afterwards.
“This was a calculated, premeditated act of murder that robbed a mother of her life and young children of their mother,” County Attorney Brad Miller said in a press statement. “Domestic violence is a scourge on our communities, and my office will continue to seek the most severe penalties possible under the law for those who commit such heinous crimes. These children will grow up without their mother’s love and comfort throughout their lives.”
As their marriage deteriorated, the husband and wife began fighting over custody of their three children. On the day of the murder, Javier Lopez drove to his wife’s house with their son. He asked his son to stay in the car while he went inside to speak with his wife to see if she was dating someone else.
When Christina Lopez told her husband that she was seeing someone else, he became enraged and repeatedly stabbed her.
“He couldn’t take it because he knew he would never get her back,” her mother, Priscilla Miller, told local Fox affiliate KSAZ.
Miller told the television station that “heartbreak is unbearable.”
“It’s not supposed to be this way, at all,” she told me.
