An unfinished mural of Liegea Lopez is painted on the side of Bishop Barbers, Lopez’s business, on Jefferson Boulevard. Photo by Emma Ruby.
Investigators found an open alcohol container in Liegea Lopez’s car following the Feb. 6 car accident that resulted in her death, an accident report obtained by the Advocate from the Hutchins Police Department shows.
The report said an “open bottle of beer” was found in the “driver seat” of Lopez’s vehicle. At the time of publishing, a toxicology report for Lopez had not been released and it is unclear what her blood alcohol content was at the time of the accident.
An illustration in the report shows that Lopez crossed over the solid yellow line into oncoming traffic while turning a curve on Dowdy Ferry Road, striking one vehicle head-on.
The driver who was hit in the collision, Lawrence Coleman, was critically injured. A GoFundMe posted by Coleman’s family says the father of four is still in the ICU following the accident.
Because alcohol was found at the accident, three city council members will not move forward with street sign toppers that were planned to memorialize Lopez along Jefferson Boulevard. The toppers were initially proposed by District 1 City Council member Chad West, District 5 City Council member Jamie Resendez and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Omar Narvaez, who represents District 6.
“Over the years, Ms. Lopez has impacted the lives of many people in positive ways, and her good deeds will live on in the community. Based on the information in the police report, and out of respect for Mr. Coleman and his family, Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Omar Narvaez, Councilmember Jaime Resendez and I will not be moving forward with the sign topper honoring Ms. Lopez,” West said in a statement Tuesday morning. “We ask for community members to please be considerate for her family and children during this difficult time.”
A representative from Resendez’s office confirmed the statement made by West also speaks for the District 5 councilmember. Narvaez had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publishing.
According to West, the Hutchins police report was the first official recording city officials received of alcohol involvement in the accident. City officials received the report the morning of Feb. 28.
