Police say Darrin Lopez drove from Tennessee to Texas to kill Oak Cliff resident James Faith on Oct. 9, 2020.
The man accused of gunning down James Faith near his South Waverly home in October knew Faith’s wife and was in a months-long “emotional affair” with her, investigators say.
Darrin Lopez, 48, was arrested in Tennessee in the death of Faith, who was shot at 7:35 a.m. while he and his wife, Jennifer, were walking their dogs on the morning following their 15th wedding anniversary.
Jennifer and Jaime Faith
Jennifer Faith told police that a man in a black Nissan truck approached them, shot her husband and attempted to use duct tape on her hands. But she screamed and got away. Police say Jennifer Faith has known her husband’s killer since high school and that they exchanged hundreds of text messages a day beginning in September 2020.
Police say her phone contained messages to a friend that described her relationship with Lopez, who police believe was her boyfriend in high school and college, as a “full-blown emotional affair,” and that Lopez had a “five-year plan” for how they would be together.
Jennifer Faith has not been charged with any crime, and sworn statements from the Dallas Police and FBI do not suggest she is suspected of a crime. She told reporters last month that she was “desperate for an arrest” in the case.
Lopez’s phone showed that he and Jennifer Faith continued texting “all day, every day” following the shooting, until Oct. 30., the Dallas Morning News reports, citing an FBI affidavit.
The two exchanged about 500 messages a day, and investigators say all of those messages were deleted from Jennifer Faith’s phone.
Authorities conducted aerial surveillance on Lopez’s home in Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee, following the shooting and saw his older model Nissan pickup with a “T” sticker. Lopez later removed the sticker.
Investigators used Lopez’s debit-card transactions to determine that he’d driven from Tennessee to Texas before the homicide.
James Faith, known as “Jamie,” was an American Airlines employee.
The headlines a few days after the murder said the killer “never said a word” before he shot three times. Jennifer Faith told police that the killer, who was wearing a hoodie and face mask, then attempted to tape her wrists together.
The Nissan pickup, caught on a neighbor’s security camera following the murder of Jamie Faith.
Federal authorities arrested Lopez in Tennessee, where he is in jail awaiting extradition to Texas.
