Miqueas De Leon Lopez was a 25-year-old Hispanic man whose family said he longed to see his young daughter in Mexico, whom he had not seen since she was a baby. His life was cut short in a violent and calculated attack in the summer of 2023.
On the evening of July 13, 2023, Lopez was driving his car through North Charleston, South Carolina, with his brother and cousin as passengers. They were being followed by another vehicle.
When Lopez stopped near the intersection of Fuller Street and Piedmont Avenue, a man approached the driver's side window with an AR-15 rifle. As Lopez tried to accelerate away, the man fired at point-blank range, striking him in the head. The car then crashed into a fence.
North Charleston police officers responded to a report of a shooting just before 6:00 p.m. and found Lopez deceased inside his vehicle. The Charleston County Coroner's Office confirmed he died from a gunshot wound and ruled his death a homicide. The investigation, aided by city surveillance footage that captured the incident, quickly led to the arrests of Jaimen Tisdale and his partner, Mariah McAteer.
During legal proceedings, prosecutors revealed that the couple had been targeting Hispanic contractors to rob them of their recently-cashed checks. On the day of the shooting, Tisdale and McAteer had their two young children, a two-year-old and a four-month-old, in the backseat of their car as they followed and attacked Lopez.
Jaimen Tisdale, 23, went to trial, where his attorney argued that he believed he was acting in defense of his family and that the rifle had discharged accidentally. Prosecutors described the attempted robbery and murder as "a targeted act of depravity." On December 4, 2023, a Charleston County jury found Tisdale guilty of murder, armed robbery, and unlawful conduct toward a child.
On the same day, Mariah McAteer, 24, pleaded guilty to accessory to murder, three counts of armed robbery, and two counts of unlawful conduct toward a child. A circuit judge sentenced Tisdale to 55 years in prison for his crimes. McAteer received a sentence of 15 years in prison, bringing the case to a close in December 2023.
