Centerville residents had been worried ever since May 12, when Lopez overpowered the officer who was driving him and 15 other prisoners near their community between Dallas and Houston.
Jean Davis, 70, who owns a feed and fertilizer store on the east side of town, said her husband wanted her to take a rifle and pistol to work, but she refused.
Concerns over his whereabouts were justified: Lopez’s long criminal history included convictions for capital murder, attempted capital murder, kidnapping and aggravated assault. Authorities said he belonged to the Mexican Mafia, which is a prison gang, and was a contract killer for at least two drug cartels.
Lopez had been serving a life sentence for capital murder for Ramirez’s death and a life sentence for attempted capital murder for the 2004 shootout with deputies, when he escaped from the prison bus. “These precious people who loved and were loved by so many, will never be forgotten,” the Collins family said in a statement. Steve Bezner, the family’s pastor, described the Houston area family as having “the greatest character, the deepest faith and unrelenting kindness and love.”
Loftin, a pastor at the Cowboy Church of Leon County, said he used to go to the family’s ranch, which also features a “beautiful fishing lake and a pier,” to help with cattle management. He called them “good, salt of the earth people.”
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