Editor's Note: The above related video originally aired on Jan. 13.
The 48-year-old Tennessee man charged with the October 2020 shooting death of his ex-girlfriend’s husband now faces federal firearm crimes, says acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah.
According to the criminal complaint, Darrin Ruben Lopez was charged Friday with transporting a firearm in interstate commerce with the intent to commit a felony offense.
Lopez is currently in custody of the Dixon County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee on a Dallas County murder warrant.
Investigators believe that on Oct. 8, 2020, Lopez allegedly drove with his .45 caliber handgun from his home in Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee to James Faith’s home in Oak Cliff, where he lay in wait.
In the early hours of Oct. 9, while Faith and his wife Jennifer were out walking their dog, Lopez shot Faith seven times – three times in the head, three times in the chest and one time in the groin – before fleeing the scene and returning to his home in Tennessee, according to the complaint.
Faith, who worked as a technology director at American Airlines, died at the scene.
According to the arrest affidavit, Lopez is the high school and college ex-boyfriend to James’ wife, Jennifer. It is believed she was having an affair with the man, the affidavit said.
Investigators said the search of Jennifer’s phone records showed she and Lopez had been engaged in what she described as a “full-blown emotional affair.”
Lopez’s phone records showed the two had been in constant contact, sending one another hundreds of texts each day for several month, including the weeks before and after the killing, according to the affidavit.
Investigators learned that Lopez had a truck that matched the description provided by neighbors of a black Nissan truck with a Texas Rangers sticker. On Nov. 20, law enforcement officials conducted aerial surveillance of Lopez’s residence in Cumberland Furnace, Tenn. and spotted the truck.
They were then able to trace Lopez’s route on Oct. 8 and 9 from Tennessee to Texas through cellphone tower data, debit card transactions, location data and surveillance video.
During the execution of a search warrant at Lopez’s home on Jan. 11, agents recovered the .45 caliber handgun that officials say was used to kill Faith.
“This defendant allegedly gunned down an innocent man in broad daylight,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah. “I hope this case makes one thing crystal clear: If you carry a gun across state lines in order to commit violence, you will be subject to federal prosecution.”
Lopez was taken into custody Jan. 12 and faces a murder charge.
He will make his first court appearance once he’s extradited back to Dallas. If convicted of the firearm offense, Lopez faces up to 10 years in federal prison. He also faces up to life on the Dallas County murder charge, officials said.
Jennifer Faith has not been charged.
