Authorities have arrested 27-year-old James Marshaun Christopher Weekly for the murder of Judy Lopez, 62. According to AZ Family, Lopez was fatally stabbed with a metal pen at a bus stop in Glendale last month. Glendale police said that emergency crews found Lopez unconscious with a neck wound, and she was rushed to the hospital, where she later died.
As per the information provided by FOX 10 Phoenix, the suspect was linked to the crime using the victim’s cellphone data. Despite initially no witnesses or footage of the murder, detectives identified Weekly on bus surveillance video wearing the same clothes as the night of the incident, thereby strengthening the case against him. In a statement from the police, it has been pointed out that Weekly gave conflicting statements, with his narrative evolving from an attempted check-in on Lopez's well-being to an admission of committing the assault with a pen after she supposedly rejected his help.
"I stabbed her in the neck; she started to go down. She leaned towards me, that’s when I pushed her off of me and her phone fell. That’s when I picked up her phone, and for some reason, I don’t know how her phone got that badly cracked because I did try to call somebody," Weekly explained in court paperwork detailed by AZ Family. He further expressed remorse over the incident, claiming it was a "misunderstanding" and that he never intended to kill Lopez.
A search warrant executed at Weekly’s residence led to the discovery of Lopez's broken cellphone and the clothing he had been seen wearing during the altercation. Weekly, who also admitted to being a Gangster Disciple, was charged with second-degree murder as the first measure in seeking justice for the victim. "She will never be forgotten. She’s gone, but she’ll never be forgotten. She’s always here, you know? And we have some great memories. Great," Judy Lopez's sister, Linda, told FOX 10 Phoenix in a reflective moment, bearing the weight of a profound loss.
The arrest has followed a memorial service celebrating Judy Lopez's life, attended by over 120 supporters. Having accused Weekly of tarnishing the sanctity of life with an object as mundane as a pen, the Lopez family now grapples with a semblance of relief in the face of justice in progress. "All I have to say is thanks to the Glendale PD. We have somebody in custody, somebody arrested. And justice will be served for my sister," Linda Lopez expressed, as reported by AZ Family.
