DALLAS — The trial for a man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend's husband in Dallas in a murder-for-hire plot began on Tuesday morning.
Darrin Lopez was charged with murder in the 2020 death of James Faith, who was fatally shot while walking his dog with his wife outside their Oak Cliff home.
Jury selection was on Monday, July 24, for Lopez's trial. Lopez's trial started on Tuesday morning.
Background
Lopez is accused of shooting Faith seven times on the morning of Oct. 9, 2020, before he left the area. Lopez allegedly drove from his home in Tennessee and used a .45 caliber handgun.
Faith worked as a technology director at American Airlines.
Jennifer Faith, James' wife, was convicted of coordinating her husband's murder with Lopez. According to an arrest affidavit, Lopez and Faith were a couple in high school and college. Investigators believed she was having an affair with Lopez.
In February 2022, she pleaded guilty to use of interstate commerce in the commission of murder-for-hire. She was later sentenced in June 2022 to life in prison.
According to court documents, Jennifer Faith had encouraged Lopez to commit the act by posing under fake email accounts. Investigators found that she posed as her husband in April 2020 and emailed Lopez about "extreme physical and sexual abuse that never actually occurred."
After her husband's death, Faith even interviewed with WFAA, pleading for help in finding her husband's killer. She gave a vehicle description during the interview, saying it was a black Nissan Titan extended cab with a Texas Rangers sticker in the back window.
Court documents stated that two days after the WFAA interview she texted Lopez, saying "I woke up in a little bit of a panic….something is eating away at me telling me you need to take the sticker out of the back window the truck."
About a month after James' death, prosecutors said that Faith admitted she initiated an insurance claim that sought nearly $629,000 in benefits through her husband's employer. Prosecutors also said Faith would text Lopez about the status of the claim and about using the money to apply for a residence in her name in Tennessee.
Lopez also faces a federal charge of transporting a firearm in interstate commerce with the intent to commit a felony offense.
