Sabino Lopez

On a warm Saturday night in Tolleson, Arizona, 21-year-old Sabino Lopez was walking through a neighborhood near the intersection of 91st Avenue and West Garfield Street. It was June 9, 2018, and the evening was about to take a violent, tragic turn. As he walked, a silver-colored SUV carrying three men confronted him. Shortly after the encounter, a gunshot rang out, and Sabino fell to the ground.

Tolleson Police Department officers responded to a call about the shooting and found Sabino lying in the street, bleeding from a serious gunshot wound. Paramedics rushed him to a local hospital for emergency treatment, but the injury was too severe. Sabino Lopez, a young man with his entire life ahead of him, died at the hospital, becoming the victim of a homicide that would remain unsolved for years.

The initial investigation by the Tolleson Police Department struggled to identify the three men in the silver SUV or a motive for the shooting. The case grew cold as leads dried up, leaving a family without answers and a community shaken by the senseless act of violence. For years, there were no significant breaks in the case, and the identity of Sabino's killer or killers remained a mystery, their silver SUV having vanished into the night.

Hope for a resolution was rekindled in January 2025, when Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced the formation of a new Cold Case Homicide Unit. Sabino's murder was selected as one of the initial five cases the specialized unit would tackle in partnership with local law enforcement. The unit was designed to bring fresh eyes, advanced technology, and dedicated resources to stubborn cases that had long gone unsolved. "Justice has no expiration date," Mayes said, emphasizing her commitment to the victims and their families. "Every cold case represents a life that mattered and a story that deserves to be told."

The new unit, supervised by experienced special agents, planned to leverage modern investigative techniques, including advanced DNA analysis and forensic genealogy, which were not available or widely used when the crime first occurred. The partnership with the Tolleson Police Department aimed to re-examine every piece of evidence and explore new avenues that might finally lead to a breakthrough.

As of early 2025, the investigation into the murder of Sabino Lopez is active and ongoing. The Arizona Attorney General's Office and the Tolleson Police Department continue to seek information from the public. They believe someone knows what happened that night and can identify the three men in the silver SUV who confronted Sabino just moments before he was killed. Authorities urge anyone with even the smallest piece of information to come forward. Tips can be submitted to the Arizona Attorney General's Office or anonymously through Silent Witness.