A Newark jury took less than a full day to convict a Vancouver, Washington man of first-degree murder for gunning down 40-year-old Reynaldo Cantu outside his Sunset Avenue home in December 2022, in a killing prosecutors described as a calculated act of vengeance tied to the death of the defendant’s teenage daughter. Louie Sixto Lopez, 56, now faces 50 years to life in prison after jurors found him guilty of murder with a firearm enhancement.
According to The Mercury News, prosecutors said Lopez brought a gun to settle the score after his 16-year-old daughter, Danielle Lopez, was killed in a collision involving multiple cars on Interstate 680 in San Jose in October 2022. Deputy District Attorney Ted McGarvey told jurors the evidence of premeditated murder was, in his words, unequivocal and overwhelming, and offered them two separate paths to reach that same conclusion. Surveillance video played at trial showed Lopez ordering Cantu out of a parked car at gunpoint and telling him to come with him, per the outlet’s reporting.
A Struggle Caught on Camera
The confrontation itself lasted only a few seconds. Lopez fired two shots — the first wounded Cantu, who initially survived, and the second went through his head, killing him, according to the Mercury News account of testimony. Cantu’s wife discovered her husband dead just seconds after the shooting, as Lopez was leaving the area; his car was found parked two blocks from the family’s home.
Earlier reporting from KTVU FOX 2 detailed how the fatal encounter was captured on a Ring security camera mounted at the Sunset Avenue residence, giving investigators direct video evidence of the confrontation. Newark Police officers were dispatched to the scene at 2:22 p.m. on December 2, 2022, with Detective Sgt. Yama Homayoun handling information requests, according to SFGate. Lopez fled back toward San Jose, where officers arrested him the following day and booked him into Santa Rita Jail without bail.
Prosecutors Say Lopez Investigated the Crash Before the Shooting
The East Bay Times reported that Lopez spent days investigating the crash. Prosecutors also said Lopez had a kidnapping kit containing rope and zip ties in his car, evidence they used to rebut the defense’s account that he had simply traveled from Washington seeking answers about his daughter’s death…