Crime News

Oak Cliff wife Jennifer Faith gets life in prison for husband's murder-for-hire

Jennifer Faith and the husband whose murder who orchestrated.

GoFundMe

UPDATE 6-21-2022: Jennifer Faith was sentenced to life in prison for the murder for hire in her husband's death. According to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Texas, at her sentencing hearing, prosecutors introduced a video of Faith describing the killing to a Dallas detective on the morning of the murder, as well as audio of Faith screaming during the attack and video of her crying hysterically afterwards.

"Ms. Faith put on quite a performance in the wake of her husband's murder. She poured out her sob story to reporters and law enforcement, then headed home to orchestrate her coverup," said U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham. "But crocodile tears didn’t stop the feds. We were committed to getting justice for Jamie, and with the Judge’s imposition of a life sentence this afternoon, we’re one step closer."

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Jennifer Lynne Faith, the 49-year-old Oak Cliff woman who persuaded her boyfriend to shoot her husband to death, has pleaded guilty to orchestrating the murder, according to a February 7 release from the office of U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

Faith pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle. She'll be sentenced on May 26, 2022. Since her case was a murder-for-hire, she is eligible for the death penalty. Prosecutors are recommending a sentence of life imprisonment, but sentencing will ultimately be at the discretion of the judge.

Meacham said in a statement that above and beyond the cold-blooded crime, her behavior after the fact made it all the more heinous.

"Even as she wept for her late husband on TV, Ms. Faith was corresponding with his murderer, plotting about how to cover up their crime," Meacham said.

Her husband James Faith was an Information Technology Director for American Airlines. According to plea papers, she admitted that her boyfriend, Darrin Ruben Lopez, 49, gunned him down on October 9, 2020 in front of his home in Oak Cliff.

Lopez has been charged by the state with murder and by federal authorities with a gun crime. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Faith has admitted she created two phony email accounts under the identities of her husband and a friend, which she used to send phony photos to Lopez, to convince him that her husband was physically and sexually abusing her, which was not true.

Lopez suffered a traumatic brain injury while serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq, leaving him disabled. Both before and after the murder, Faith sent him money, gifts, and credit cards which she paid off using the proceeds of a "Support Jennifer Faith" GoFundMe fundraiser launched in the wake of her husband's death.

The murder took place while Faith and her husband walked their dog. Lopez allegedly shot her husband seven times before fleeing in his black Nissan Titan pickup truck, which had a distinctive "T" decal on the back window, which witnesses reported to the police.

After his murder, Jennifer went on TV and pleaded with the public to for help in finding the truck with the decal — then texted Lopez and told him to remove the sticker. Lopez allegedly removed the sticker the following day.

One month after her husband's death, Faith filed a claim with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company seeking approximately $629,000 in death benefits he had through his employer.

The release says that she and Lopez discussed using the money to apply for a residence in her name in Tennessee.

To cover their interactions, she advised Lopez to say he was "an old friend going through a divorce," and the reason they talked every night was because she was supposedly "helping/giving support ... just in case they pulled phone records and ask."

When Lopez was arrested at his home in Tennessee, authorities found the gun used to commit the murder inside his home.

The release also says that, on February 2, 2021, right before she was charged, Faith asked a third party to convey a message to Lopez, who was in custody in Dallas.

"I am with him, will always be with him regardless of whatever has happened," her message said. "I've needed to be cautious because every communication is being monitored. Please tell him ASAP I will always be his."

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives' Dallas Field Division and the Dallas Police Department Homicide Unit, with the assistance of the ATF's Nashville Field Office, the FBI Dallas Field Office, Homeland Security Investigations, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's Aviation Unit, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee. NDTX Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rick Calvert and Andrew Briggs are prosecuting the case.

population explosion

7 booming Dallas neighbors see biggest population growth in U.S.

City of Denton, TX - City Hall/Facebook

Denton had the biggest population growth rate in Dallas-Fort Worth from 2022 to 2023.

Denton, Mansfield, McKinney, and more North Texas cities are among the fastest-growing places in the country, according to a new population growth study by SmartAsset.

The report, "These Cities Saw the Largest Growth in Population – 2024 Study," examined U.S. Census population estimates for 2023, 2022, and 2018 to determine one-year and five-year population changes for 610 U.S. cities with populations of at least 65,000 residents in 2023 (where the most recent data was available).

Silver Spring, Maryland had the No. 1 biggest population boom nationwide from 2022 to 2023, SmartAsset found. The Washington, D.C. suburb grew 12.86 percent year-over-year, bringing the city's total population from 75,313 to 84,996 residents in 2023.

Denton took the lead over all other Dallas-Fort Worth cities with the 16th-largest one-year population growth rate in the U.S., at 5.32 percent. Denton gained over 8,000 residents from 2022 to 2023, bringing the city's total population to 158,361 in 2023.

This should come as no surprise to those who already live in Denton, who may know their hometown was ranked one of the safest suburbs in America.

Mansfield trailed close behind with a 4.16 percent increase in population during that same period, which landed it the No. 26 spot in the one-year population change analysis. The city gained 3,189 new residents in that time, adding up to a total population of 79,775 residents in 2023.

McKinney appeared farther down the list as No. 49 with just a 2.89 percent one-year growth rate from 2022 to 2023, and a total population of 213,504 residents.

Only four other Dallas-Fort Worth cities appeared in the top 100 fastest growing cities in the U.S. from 2022 to 2023:

No. 61 – Frisco (2.48 percent increase)
No. 72 – Rowlett (2.48 percent)
No. 73 – Lewisville (2.17 percent)
No. 99 – Flower Mound (1.73 percent)

The report suggested major population shifts in communities like Denton or Mansfield can result in "a variety of interwoven economic and social impacts."

"The magnitude of the population change can affect demand for businesses and services, which in turn may impact costs – or even the availability of such amenities," the report's author wrote. "Similarly, the relative age of the population can determine the strength or weakness of the local job market, as well as have an impact on local culture, economic trajectory, tax base and more."

Fast-growing cities elsewhere in Texas
Texas cities dominated the top 10 list of cities where population grew the most from 2022 to 2023.

New Braunfels, a San Antonio suburb, ranked No. 2 nationally with an 12.49 percent one-year population boom, and a 29.68 percent growth rate from 2018 to 2023. The city gained 12,318 new residents in that time, adding up to a total population of 110,961 residents in 2023.

Just two spots behind New Braunfels is the North Austin suburb of Georgetown (No. 4), which grew 11.34 percent to 96,317 residents in 2023. According to the report's five-year population change analysis, Georgetown ranked seventh with a 29.85 percent growth rate.

The Houston suburbs of Atascocita and Conroe ranked No. 5 and No. 9, respectively. Atascocita's total population grew to 119,502 residents in 2023, which represented a 11.03 percent growth rate from 2022, and a whopping 38.56 percent population increase since 2018. Conroe's 6.73 percent one-year population increase paled in comparison, but the city grew 23.49 percent during the five-year period from 2018 to 2023.

The top 10 U.S. cities where population grew the most from 2022 to 2023 are:

No. 1 – Silver Spring, Maryland
No. 2 – New Braunfels, Texas
No. 3 – Glen Burnie, Maryland
No. 4 – Georgetown, Texas
No. 5 – Atascocita, Texas
No. 6 – Pine Hills, Florida
No. 7 – Elgin, Illinois
No. 8 – Lehi, Utah
No. 9 – Conroe, Texas
No. 10 – Dale City, Virginia

population growth reports smartasset dallas fort worth denton suburbs mansfield