Jennifer Faith Pleads Guilty to Murder for Hire in Husband’s Death
Jennifer Lynne Faith, the Oak Cliff woman who convinced her boyfriend to shoot her husband to death, pleaded guilty on Monday to orchestrating the murder, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.
In February 2021, prosecutors charged Ms. Faith, 49, with obstruction of justice. In September 2021, they added a charge of use of interstate commerce in the commission of murder-for-hire, an offense that carries a potential death sentence. Ms. Faith pleaded guilty to the murder-for-hire charge before U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle on Monday morning. In return for her plea, prosecutors agreed to drop the obstruction charge and to recommend a sentence of life imprisonment. Sentencing will ultimately be at the discretion of the judge.
“Jennifer Faith’s cold-blooded plot to murder her husband was made all the more heinous by the way she behaved after his death. 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,” said U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office, ATF, DPD, and our law enforcement partners remain committed to getting justice for Jamie. We are proud to hold Ms. Faith accountable for her crimes, and look forward to proving our case against her boyfriend, Mr. Lopez, in court. Truth will prevail in the end.”
“Lies, deceit and ultimately the murder of a loving spouse. After attempting to manipulate family, friends and caring citizens, Mrs. Faith has now admitted to her heinous acts. I could not be prouder of the work of all those involved in this investigation, specifically, the Dallas Police Department Homicide Unit, the United States Attorney’s Office, and ATF Special Agents. What’s done in the dark will always come to light,” stated ATF Dallas Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek II.
According to plea papers, Ms. Faith admitted that her boyfriend, Darrin Ruben Lopez, 49, gunned down her husband, American Airlines technology director Jamie Faith, on Oct. 9, 2020 in front of his home in Oak Cliff. (Mr. Lopez has been charged by the state with murder and by the feds with a gun crime. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges. Like all defendants, he is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.)
Ms. Faith admitted that she knew Mr. Lopez – whom she called her “one and only love” – had suffered a traumatic brain injury while serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq, leaving him disabled. Both before and after the murder, she sent Mr. Lopez money and gifts, and even provided him with two 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.
She also admitted that before the murder, she used two phony email accounts to correspond with Mr. Lopez, assuming the identities of her own husband and one of her friends in order to falsely convince Mr. Lopez that her husband was physically and sexually abusing her. (In plea papers, Ms. Faith stipulated that no such abuse ever occurred.) Ms. Faith admitted that she downloaded stock images depicting injuries from the internet and attached them to some of the emails to convince Mr. Lopez that the abuse was actually occurring.
Seven months into her relationship with Mr. Lopez, Ms. Faith exited her home with her husband to walk their dog, she acknowledged in plea papers. One minute into their walk, Mr. Lopez – who allegedly drove from his home in Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee, to the Faiths’ home in Dallas, where he laid in wait at a neighbor’s home – allegedly shot Mr. Faith seven times before fleeing the scene in his black Nissan Titan pickup truck, which had a distinctive “T” decal on the back window.
After she learned that law enforcement was aware of the “T” decal, Ms. Faith appeared on DFW’s ABC affiliate, WFAA, and plead with the public to help investigators locate the decaled truck. Following the interview, Ms. Faith texted Mr. Lopez and encouraged him to remove the sticker from his truck, she admitted.
“I woke up in a bit of a panic… Something is eating away at me telling me you need to take the sticker out of the back window of the truck,” she texted him. “I don’t normally overreact like this… really think you need to get that sticker off ASAP, like today.” Mr. Lopez allegedly removed the sticker the following day.
Meanwhile, approximately one month after her husband’s death, Ms. Faith admitted, she initiated a claim with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company seeking approximately $629,000 in death benefits Mr. Faith had through his employer. She periodically updated Mr. Lopez on the status of the claim. In text messages, the pair discussed using the money to apply for a residence in her name in Tennessee.
In January 2021, shortly after she was asked to come in for questioning by investigators, Ms. Faith reached out to Mr. Lopez to coordinate their cover stories, she admitted in plea papers.
“If asked about you, you are an old friend going through a divorce. We talk every night because I am helping/giving support with the girls,” she texted. “Just in case they pulled phone records and ask.”
“Good idea,” Mr. Lopez responded. “You are doing good.”
ATF agents arrested Mr. Lopez on murder charges in Cumberland Furnace on Jan. 11, 2021. The firearm used to kill Mr. Faith was recovered inside Mr. Lopez’s home.
On Feb. 2, 2021, shortly before she was charged, Ms. Faith contacted a third party and asked that a message be forwarded to Mr. Lopez, who at the time was in custody in Dallas.
“I am with him, will always be with him regardless of whatever has happened. I’ve needed to be cautious because every communication is being monitored,” the message read in part. “Please tell him ASAP I will always be his.”
The Office of the United States Attorney General approved Ms. Faith’s plea agreement, as is customary in cases involving death penalty eligible cases. She is slated to be sentenced on May 26.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives’ Dallas Field Division and the Dallas Police Department’s Homicide Unit conducted the investigation with the assistance of the ATF’s Nashville Field Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 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.
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