Fernie Lopez was 29 years old when he was run down and killed on a residential street in Pico Rivera on the evening of Saturday, April 17, 2021. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died from blunt force trauma near 9004 Reichling Lane. His death was ruled a homicide, and detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau took the case.
Fernie was born on December 28, 1991, and was a Latino man from Pico Rivera, according to his obituary. He was survived by his mother, Renee Avilez. Funeraria del Angel in Pico Rivera handled his arrangements, and he was buried on May 13, 2021, at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, a few miles from where he died. He was only months past his 29th birthday.
Sheriff's officials described what happened that night. At about 6:30 p.m., Lopez was standing next to a vehicle in the 9000 block of Reichling Lane, talking with the people inside it, Lt. Robert Westphal said. As he started to walk away, the vehicle accelerated and struck him. The vehicle, believed to be a dark-colored Chevrolet Suburban, continued down the street, then turned around and came back. The people inside looked at the man lying in the road and then drove away. Lopez was pronounced dead at the scene.
That account raises questions the public record has never answered. Lopez had been talking with the people in the Suburban moments before he was hit, which suggests he may have known them, or at least that something passed between them. Investigators have not said publicly what the conversation was about, how many people were in the vehicle, whether it was a dispute, or whether the driver meant to hit him. The fact that the SUV came back, paused and then left again is one of the most troubling details in the case. Whoever was inside saw what had happened and chose not to stop.
Reichling Lane is a quiet residential street in Pico Rivera, a city of about 62,000 people in the southeast part of Los Angeles County, between the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo rivers. Its neighborhoods are mostly single-family homes with front yards and driveways. The Sheriff's Department provides police service to the city under contract through its Pico Rivera Station. A Saturday evening in April, still light outside at 6:30, is a time when neighbors may have been home, outdoors or driving through.
His death was one of three homicides sheriff's detectives were called to across the county within about an hour and a quarter that night. Killings rose sharply that year in the areas the Sheriff's Department patrols. Sheriff Alex Villanueva said in January 2022 that homicides in those areas were up 94 percent from 2019 to 2021, from 145 in 2019, according to ABC7.
Sheriff's officials asked anyone with information to come forward, but no arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Fernie Lopez could be found in news archives or public records. More than four years later, there is no public sign that the driver or anyone else in the Suburban has been identified or held responsible. Someone in Pico Rivera may know who drove a dark Chevrolet Suburban down Reichling Lane that evening, or who Fernie was talking to just before he died. Anyone with information can contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
