An Arizona father was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole for the “horrific murder” of his estranged wife, who was stabbed 43 times, prosecutors said on Monday, Sept. 15.
Javier Lopez admitted to first-degree premeditated murder in the 2024 death of Christina Lopez, according to a Pinal County Attorney’s Office press release.
“This was a planned act of murder that took a mother’s life and left her young children without a parent,” said Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller.
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Prosecutors said that on August 12, 2024, one of the couple’s three children was waiting in the car outside their Florence home when Lopez attacked his estranged wife.
The teen reportedly asked his father, “if he had hurt his mother” after hearing screaming and crying from inside the house, according to the press release.
Lopez was arrested on the same day as the attack.
“Domestic violence is a serious problem in our communities, and my office will continue to seek the strongest penalties under the law for those who commit such terrible crimes,” Miller said.
