DALLAS — An Oak Cliff woman who convinced her boyfriend to shoot her husband to death pled guilty on Monday to orchestrating the murder, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Chad E. Meacham. 

Prosecutors charged 49-year-old Jennifer Lynne Faith with obstruction of justice in February 2021. In September 2021, they added a charge of use of interstate commerce in the commission of murder-for-hire, which 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. 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.” 

According to plea papers, 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. 

The state has charged Lopez with murder and the feds with a gun crime. He has pled not guilty to both charges. 

Faith admitted that she knew 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 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 Lopez, assuming the identities of her own husband and one of her friends in order to convince Lopez that her husband was physically and sexually abusing her. In plea papers, Faith stipulated that no such abuse ever occurred. Faith admitted that she downloaded stock images depicting injuries from the internet and attached them to some emails to convince Lopez that the abuse was actually occurring.

Seven months into her relationship with Lopez, Faith left her home with her husband to walk their dog, she acknowledged in plea papers. Lopez 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. One minute into their walk, Lopez allegedly shot Jamie 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, Faith appeared on a DFW’s news station and pleaded with the public to help investigators find the truck which bore the decal. Following the interview, Faith texted 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.” Lopez allegedly removed the sticker the following day. 

About one month after her husband’s death, Faith admitted she started a claim with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company seeking approximately $629,000 in death benefits Faith had through his employer. She periodically updated 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, Faith reached out to Lopez, coordinated 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,” Lopez responded. “You are doing good.” 

ATF agents arrested Lopez on murder charges in Cumberland Furnace on Jan. 11, 2021. Agents recovered the firearm used to kill Faith inside Lopez’s home.   

On Feb. 2, 2021, shortly before being charged, Faith contacted a third party and asked to send a message to Lopez, who at the time was in custody in Dallas. 

“I am with him, [sic] 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.”

Sentencing is scheduled for May 26.