Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Jennifer Lynne Faith, the Oak Cliff woman who convinced her boyfriend to shoot her husband to death, was sentenced today to life in federal prison for 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. In return for her plea, prosecutors agreed to drop the obstruction charge and to recommend a sentence of life imprisonment. Ms. Faith pleaded guilty in February and was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle, who also ordered her to pay $6,500 in restitution to her late husband’s family to cover funeral expenses and a $250,000 fine.

At her sentencing hearing, prosecutors introduced into evidence a video of Ms. Faith describing the killing to Dallas Homicide Detective Chris Walton the morning of her husband’s murder.

“I turned around and I just saw this person shoot and shoot. I couldn’t believe – I didn’t know him. Like, why?” she said, sobbing. “A lot of shots, five, six, maybe, I feel like. And he just kept going, and I’m like, stop it!”

“And then I saw the person turn and like, just, dark eyes, coming toward me. And so I started – I yelled no, and I started to run. And he tackled me to the ground,” she continued. “He was trying to attack me the whole time I was screaming.”

Prosecutors also introduced into evidence surveillance audio of Ms. Faith screaming during the attack and video of her crying hysterically afterwards.

According to plea papers, Ms. Faith subsequently 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.

After her arrest, she continued to maintain the fiction. At Tuesday’s sentencing, prosecutors introduced a handwritten note she sent to Mr. Lopez dated October 19, 2021 – less than a month after court documents outlined the email scheme:

“Just a quick note to say I never lied to you and I never sent you emails from any account but mine, as me,” she said. “There is a ton more I wish I could say, but I can’t right now.”

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.

At her sentencing, prosecutors introduced into evidence a text message from Ms. Faith to Mr. Lopez dated January 10, 2021:

“Don’t text me Monday. I am going to factory reset my phone on Sunday night after deleting texts,” she wrote.

“Ok sounds good,” Mr. Lopez responded. “Big hug.”

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.”

“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.”

“No amount of time in federal prison will ever be able to bring Mr. Faith back, however this sentencing shows the gravity of Ms. Faith’s criminal acts. Her spineless attempt to sway law enforcement and public opinion will forever be etched into the hearts of those affected by her monstruous crime. I would like to personally thank the Dallas Police Department Detectives, the Assistant United States Attorneys, and the ATF Special Agents that were ultimately responsible for bringing this villain to justice” stated ATF Dallas Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek II.

After hearing evidence presented by the prosecutor, United States District Judge Jane J. Boyle admonished Ms. Faith calling her “pure evil” before imposing her life sentence.

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.

Copies of public sentencing exhibits are available to credentialed media upon request.