SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — There’s heartbreak and frustration for those close to Ismael Lopez after hearing a grand jury decided not to indict a Southaven police officer who shot and killed the 41-year-old back in July of last year.
“Corruption is happening right now. This corruption at its highest,” said Pastor Rolando Rostro.
Rostro, an advocate for the Lopez family, says he believes this was in fact a murder.
“This is a shame to Mississippi, this is a shame to the police department and this is why people don’t trust the police department,” he said. “At this day in age, we’re still having all these cover ups in their own department. This is an outrage.”
“Shame on the district attorney, and shame on you.”
Southaven Police were looking for a domestic violence suspect, who was wanted in Tate County, when they went to the wrong address.
Even today, Lopez’s neighbors are still dealing with pain.
“After I had found out the next day about what had happened, for about a week after that I had nightmares,” said neighbor Tonya Hopper. “I had dreams the police came into my house and shot me.”
Hopper says she knows the police make mistakes, but says the family deserves justice.
“I think the family should be rewarded with some type of money or something, if the officers aren’t going to be charged.”
Pastor Rostro tells WREG, this is far from over.
“I really pray that we follow up with some civil suits now because as he said he gonna drop all this and it’s finished, well it’s finished for him but the family still has somebody that died, a father, a husband who did not need to die.”
