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Dallas woman pleads guilty to coordinating husband's murder-for-hire with ex-boyfriend

Sentencing, scheduled for May 26, will ultimately be at the discretion of the judge.

DALLAS — The Dallas woman whose husband was shot and killed in 2020 in an alleged murder-for-hire plot pleaded guilty in court Monday.

Jennifer Lynne Faith, 49, had faced charges of obstruction of justice and use of interstate commerce in the commission of murder-for-hire. 

After talking to her lawyers, last week Faith "concluded that it is in her best interest to enter into this plea agreement and all its terms, rather than to proceed to trial in this case."

During federal court Monday, Faith, who stood in a pinstripe jumpsuit, emotional throughout the duration of the half-hour hearing, pleaded guilty to the murder-for-hire charge. In return for her plea, prosecutors agreed to drop the obstruction charge and to recommend a sentence of life imprisonment. 

The use of interstate commerce in the commission of murder-for-hire charge does carry a death penalty, but Jamie Faith's requested to not seek the death penalty. 

Sentencing, scheduled for May 26, will ultimately be at the discretion of the judge. 

Credit: Dan Crowell

Faith was initially charged with obstruction of justice in the death of her husband, Jamie Faith, who was killed Oct. 9, 2020, while he and Jennifer walked their dog near their Oak Cliff home.

Prosecutors said Faith's boyfriend, Darrin Ruben Lopez, shot Jaime Faith seven times from his black Nissan Titan pickup truck, which had a distinctive "T" decal on the back window. Faith later texted Lopez to remove the sticker from the truck, after she learned that law enforcement was looking for it. 

Then, in September 2021, federal authorities discovered that before the murder, Faith encouraged Lopez to commit the crime by posing under fake email accounts. 

An indictment filed in Dallas federal court said that Faith created a Gmail account under her husband's name on April 9, 2020. With the account, she emailed Lopez, posing as her husband, and "taunting Mr. Lopez with details of extreme physical and sexual abuse that never actually occurred."

Meanwhile, roughly one month after her husband’s death, prosecutors said Faith admitted she initiated an insurance claim seeking nearly $629,000 in death benefits through her husband's employer. Through the process, prosecutors said Faith would text Lopez on the status of the claim and even discussed using the money to apply for a residence in her name in Tennessee. 

After the guilty plea in court, U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham called Faith's actions a "cold-blooded plot" and said the murder of 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,” Meacham said. “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."

Lopez has been charged by the state with murder and by the feds with a gun crime. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

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