Juan Lopez left Nicaragua last year in hopes of escaping the violence plaguing the Central American country.
But his life ended tragically on the streets of Los Angeles when he was gunned down while working to earn money to celebrate his daughter’s 9th birthday back home.
On the day of his death, 39-year-old Lopez said, “travahito‘, a small task to draw a picture of an ice cream shop with another man.
Life in Los Angeles has not been easy. He was having trouble finding work as a painter and lived with his sister in a small apartment in Northridge, sleeping on a cot in the living room. He lost three children, Brittany, 9. Johann, 12 years old. And Edward, 13, was abandoned in Matagalpa, Nicaragua.
His daughter Brittany’s ninth birthday was April 15th, the day the paint job was done. He couldn’t wait to transfer money to Nicaragua.
Juan Lopez’s sister, Ruth Lopez Suárez, said: “He was very happy because he was going to earn the money to buy his daughter a cake.”
He got up at 7:00 a.m., shaved, showered, made his bed, and left the house, but she never saw him again.
Police said Lopez was shot dead around noon while overwriting gangster graffiti outside an ice cream parlor on Parthenia Street in Northridge. The alleged shooter saw Lopez and other employees hiding the graffiti they tagged on the wall earlier in the day and became so angry that he opened fire on the men, killing Lopez. He confessed to the police that he did.
Los Angeles police responded to reports of a shooting near the Northridge Strip Mall on April 15. Juan Lopez was shot dead while overwriting gangster graffiti outside an ice cream parlor on Partenia Street near the mall.
(KTLA)
Lopez, who had only been in the United States for six months and Los Angeles for three years, police and his sister said, got caught in a disputed gang’s turf and forced to work for a meager wage and a day’s work. He unknowingly put his life in danger.
Los Angeles announced that 98 people were killed between January 1 and May 13, a significant drop from last year’s death rate. Los Angeles Police Department Statistics. Statistics show that 135 people died during the same period last year.
It wasn’t the first time Lopez had encountered violence. He was kidnapped by smugglers in Mexico and held for ransom, but eventually escaped.
According to his sister, he came to America in search of safety.
The family was involved in local politics in Nicaragua. They worked on elections and took part in marches and protests against President Daniel Ortega’s cardinal rule.
“If you go against the government in Nicaragua, you risk being arrested or disappearing. He wanted to avoid that. That’s why he left,” his sister said. “Now that we’ve lost our brother, we’ve learned a truth that we never knew before. In my home country, you don’t see someone randomly come in and kill you. …it happens.” you have to get into trouble with someone… Here they are, because they want to kill you, or confused you with someone, or just because you have a job. And they will kill you.”
After the shooting, it took Ruth Lopez days to realize what had happened to her.
Ruth Lopez has a picture of her brother Juan Lopez.
(Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
When Lopez didn’t come home the morning after he went out to paint the ice cream shop, his sister went to find him. She went to places he always looked for work, including the Mormon church down the street.
Eventually, she found a man who had worked with her brother in the past.
“When I showed him a picture of my brother, he said, ‘Your brother is dead.’ …They killed him yesterday.”
However, the police mistakenly reported that the murdered was a 60-year-old man, and she falsely hoped that her brother might still be alive.
Even after the man told Lopez that his brother had died, his body was never found. Police had no information about her because he was not in the hospital. She was certain he was dead until the deceased man’s fingerprints matched Lopez’s in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement database. Her brother had applied for political asylum and was awaiting her first formal court hearing.
Lopez now wants to send her brother’s body to Nicaragua for burial, but she cannot afford it. Her price is $12,800, she said. She raises money with GoFundMe to cover the costs. She has raised just over $5,000 to date.
“My family wants to meet him, and his children want to meet him. That’s the least I can do for him right now,” she said. .
For Ruth Lopez, it is still hard to believe that she will never see her brother again. She put his cot in the living room of the apartment and he made the bed – he made it every morning. Even if he comes back, it will be ready.
“I think I’ll see him again. I feel like I’m lying. See you again,” she said.
