Roberto Lopez was 80 years old and thanked the Lord for each day of his life. The elderly man didn’t think that his life would end the way that it did in the form of violence. Lopez went to a grocery store in Lancaster, California one day and used the restroom just like many other customers do each day. The elderly man quickly discovered that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and would soon meet the person who would be the cause of his death. There was a teenager in the bathroom who mugged Lopez, beating him to the point that the man was left on the floor and fighting to survive.
During the mugging, the teenager took the elderly man’s wallet. He also broke several of the man’s ribs, broke his nose, and broke his jaw to the point that surgeons didn’t think that it would functional even with several surgeries. However, Lopez’s jaw was a minimal thing to be concerned about compared to his other injuries. The man would soon die in a hospital room with no one around him. He left his wife, four children, 16 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren behind to cherish his memory and to try to make sense of what had happened that day when Lopez entered the bathroom. When the attack happened, paramedics that responded to the call carried the elderly man to the hospital while officers stayed behind to try to work on any leads that were available.
Officers soon had a picture of the young man who they believed assaulted Lopez. They were soon able to arrest a 22-year-old man named Damaris Wade. He surrendered without incident. Wade’s girlfriend was also arrested for being an accessory to the crime due to her knowing about the incident and not making a report. After officers arrested the young woman and took her to the police station, they had to let her go because of a lack of evidence for the charges. While Lopez was in the hospital, he struggled until the very end. His wife was the one who told media outlets in the area that her husband had died because of his injuries. Many relatives of the family are angry that the beating took place and don’t want to continue living in an atmosphere where there is so much hatred toward others. Since Lopez died, the family is requesting that the man responsible be charged with murder instead of second-degree robbery and attempted murder. There is a good possibility that the charges will be upgraded and that the family will get the outcome that they desire when the case goes to trial. Wade has been charged with robbery in the past and faces at least 25 years in prison.
