Tx. Wife Who Pleaded on TV for Info About Husband's Killing Is Now Charged in Case

Tx. Wife Who Pleaded on TV for Info About Husband's Killing Is Now Charged in Case

In December, Jennifer Faith looked plaintively at photographs of her deceased husband as she told a local TV station how she hoped his killer would soon be caught

On a quiet October morning last fall, American Airlines executive James Faith and his wife, Jennifer Faith, were out walking their dog when a barrage of gunshots shattered the tranquility of their Dallas, Texas, neighborhood.

As Jennifer screamed in horror, her husband, James, 49, lay in the street of their North Oak Cliff neighborhood, shot multiple times by a man Jennifer, 48, said had run up behind them just as they began their walk -- one day after the couple had celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary, CBSDFW reports.

"I heard running behind me, and I turned around and all of a sudden somebody just started shooting at him," Jennifer told NBCDFW. "And just kept shooting and shooting and shooting."

According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by PEOPLE, the gunman wrapped Jennifer's wrists with duct tape and hit her before trying to take her jewelry.

With no arrests in sight, in December Jennifer pleaded for anyone with information to come forward in an interview with NBCDFW.

"My hope is that someday perhaps the person will realize the gravity of what they've done and what they have taken from myself and my daughter," she told NBCDFW. "He was just the backbone of our family. It was just devastating."

Gofundme Jennifer and James Faith

Now, four months after her husband's execution-style killing, Dallas police and the ATF have arrested Jennifer on a federal charge of obstruction of justice in connection with the shooting death of her husband, who was killed on Oct. 9, shortly after 7:30 a.m., CBSDFW reports.

Dallas Police removed from its website information about the obstruction of justice charge against Jennifer and how she is being held in a local jail until she is transferred into federal custody, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Now it says, "The details are still sealed and not available for public release at this time. When the information becomes unsealed, additional information will be provided."

Her arrest comes one month after the arrest of her former boyfriend, Darrin Lopez, 48, who allegedly drove from his home in Tennessee to shoot James, the affidavit says.

On Jan. 11, the ATF Special Response Team in Tennessee arrested Lopez in connection with the shooting, the Dallas Police Department said in an update.

Dickson County Jail Darrin Lopez

He is charged with murder.

Extradited to Dallas, Lopez remains held in the Dallas County Jail on $1 million bail, the Dallas Morning News reports.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Jennifer and Lopez dated in high school and college.

Among the 14,363 calls and texts Jennifer and Lopez exchanged between Sept. 30 and Oct. 30, 2020, she had described her relationship with her former boyfriend as "a full-blown emotional affair," the affidavit says.

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She also said that she and Lopez had a "five-year plan on how they would be together," according to the affidavit.

Jennifer and her husband were having marital problems, the affidavit says.

Fatal Shooting in a Quiet Suburb

On the morning of the shooting, neighbor Melinda Mendoza told NBCDFW she heard a barrage of shots and a woman wailing.

"I hear the woman screaming for her life. It sounded terrible," Mendoza said. "It sounded like a movie. I see their dog moving, big ol' pretty dog took off running so I knew it was my neighbors."

"My heart breaks for [the victim's wife], you know," Mendoza said. "It's just sad."

Police released a picture of a black Nissan pickup truck with a Texas Rangers sticker on the back window that the gunman was thought to have gotten into before leaving the scene, CBSDFW reports.

Jennifer and James Faith were known as a friendly couple in their tight-knit neighborhood.

In her interview with NBCDFW, she described her husband, an Information Technology Director for American Airlines, as a good man.

"Jamie was very kind, very caring. He would do anything for anybody," Jennifer Faith said. "We had a wonderful best friendship in our marriage and loved to travel together, loved football. He was an excellent father."

Lopez faces a federal charge of taking a gun across state lines to commit a felony, the Dallas Morning News reports.

"This defendant allegedly gunned down an innocent man in broad daylight,"acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah said in a statement in January, the Dallas Morning News reports.

"I hope this case makes one thing crystal clear: If you carry a gun across state lines in order to commit violence, you will be subject to federal prosecution."

Neither Lopez nor Jennifer have entered pleas.

Lopez's attorney Juan Sanchez said in an email to PEOPLE, "We are in the preliminary stages and have yet to receive the discovery evidence necessary to formulate his defense. With that said, we believe Mr. Lopez to be a good man with a military background, that may have been manipulated by Jennifer Faith and caused him to act under some belief that she was in some kind of danger. Of course, this is just a theory of the case that is fluid, and could change once we receive more information."

Jennifer's attorney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.