Police: Springville Man Shot, Killed Mother In Front Of Sister
Dec 24, 2020, 8:02 PM
The driver of a fatal hit-and-run crash in Salt Lake City last fall is facing criminal charges. (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
SPRINGVILLE, Utah – Officers with the Springville Police Department said a 24-year-old man shot and killed his mother in front of his 17-year-old sister.
Police responded to the home at 944 South 1000 East Wednesday night on reports of a domestic incident and found 43-year-old Victoria Ramirez dead with an apparent gunshot wound.
Ramirez’s 17-year-old daughter told police she was eating dinner with her mother and 14-year-old sister when Mike Lopez entered the room with a shotgun.
Lopez sat down at the table and the 17-year-old daughter told officers her younger sister and Lopez looked at each other and nodded their heads. The younger sister then left the room and went to a bathroom.
The older daughter told police she heard her mother tell Lopez, “I know you’re going to kill me.” However, the daughter did not believe the gun was loaded and left the table to check on her younger sister.
“The 17-year-old stated she turned around at the bathroom door, just in time to watch Mike shoot their mother in the neck with the shotgun,” officers said in a probable cause statement. “Mike (Lopez) then walked over and grabbed the 14-year-old by the arm and they started dancing.”
The 17-year-old locked herself in the bathroom before climbing out a window and running to another home, where she called the police.
She also told officers she believed her younger sister knew this was going to happen, and Lopez had been supplying her younger sister with marijuana.
Police said the 14-year-old “was acting very strange, she admitted she and Mike have been together a lot lately and they take turns sleeping so they can watch over one another. She also stated she was with Mike yesterday when he went to Sportsman’s Wharehouse in Provo and purchased the shotgun and a handgun.”
The interviewing officer said the 14-year-old showed no emotion during the interview and “denied any knowledge of knowing Mike was going to shot Victoria.”
Lopez was transported to Utah Valley Hospital. “A warrant was obtained for Mike (Lopez)’s blood and it came back positive for THC,” police said.
Lopez was booked into the Utah County Jail early Thursday morning on charges of aggravated murder.
Resources For Domestic Violence Victims
If you are a victim of abuse, there are resources out there to help. It is a difficult first step, but help is available 24 hours a day and doesn’t cost anything.
- Utah Domestic Violence Link Line 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
- National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
- Utah YWCA shelter for women- 24-Hour Crisis Line- 801-537-8600
- 911 — don’t hesitate to call if you need immediate help
Online resources:
https://justice.utah.gov/Violence/
http://www.health.utah.gov/vipp/topics/domestic-violence/
https://www.thehotline.org/resources/statistics/
https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=235
https://www.nij.gov/topics/crime/intimate-partner-violence/Pages/welcome.aspx
