Widow Of Murdered Texas Man Charged With Obstruction Of Justice After Her Ex Is Identified As Suspect

The wife of a murdered airline executive was arrested on federal obstruction of justice charges this week after her ex-boyfriend was identified as the alleged gunman in his killing. 

Jennifer Faith, 48, carried out an “emotional affair” with her ex-boyfriend, Darrin Ruben Lopez, in the weeks leading up to the October shooting death of her spouse, James Faith, authorities said. Lopez is accused of shooting the airline executive a day after the couple celebrated their wedding anniversary last year, Dallas Morning News reported. 

Faith was booked into a Dallas County jail on Feb. 24, according to online jail records. She’s expected to be transferred to federal custody. 

James Faith, an information technology director for American Airlines, was shot and killed on Oct. 9 near the couple’s home in Oak Cliff, Texas. 

Jennifer Faith initially told investigators a masked man with a pistol ambushed the couple while they were out for a morning walk. She said the gunman shot her husband in the head several times and later tried binding her hands with duct tape. 

“We walked out the door and we made it to the house right behind you and I heard running behind me and I turned around and shooting just started,” Jennifer Faith told WFAA at the time. “The guy kept shooting and shooting. A neighbor said they saw him attempt to shoot me and the gun was empty. I was running up this driveway and he tackled me, started beating on me and taped my hands together.”

A black pickup truck was also spotted fleeing the scene of the shooting. 

"I just hope that at some point this person can recognize the gravity of what they’ve done,” Faith added after the incident. “And feel some sort of guilt enough to come forward. I’m just not supposed to be widowed at 48."

However, after seizing her phone, investigators learned Jennifer Faith had exchanged upwards of 14,000 phone calls and text messages with Lopez, according to an affidavit. Authorities described the relationship as a “full-blown emotional affair.” She and Lopez dated in high school, according to WFAA.

Authorities later matched the Tennessee man’s black Nissan truck to the description of the vehicle seen speeding away from the shooting. Surveillance footage also captured an unidentified man resembling Lopez in the backyard of a neighboring home five hours before the shooting.

Bank records also implicated Lopez, who detectives suspect drove from Tennessee to Dallas to carry out the killing. He had withdrawn cash from a truck stop ATM in Arkansas the day before the shooting took place. 

Lopez was arrested on Jan. 7. The firearm allegedly used in the shooting was recovered days later after federal agents executed a warrant to search his Tennessee property.

“This defendant allegedly gunned down an innocent man in broad daylight,” acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah said in a statement in January. “I hope this case makes one thing crystal clear: If you carry a gun across state lines in order to commit violence, you will be subject to federal prosecution.”

Lopez was also charged with transporting a firearm across state lines to commit a felony crime.