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MIDVALE — A Midvale man who told police his wife shot herself in a car on State Street has been charged with murder.
Komasquin Lopez, 43, was booked into Salt Lake County Jail on Thursday and charged in 3rd District Court with first-degree felony murder.
His wife, 32-year-old Shannon Lopez, was killed by a close-range gunshot to the left side of her head on Dec. 27, according to court documents. She was a passenger in her husband's truck, which collided with another vehicle near 7800 South and State Street moments after the shot was fired.
No one else was in the vehicle at the time of the accident, which closed State Street for several hours.
Komasquin Lopez told police at the scene that he never saw the gun while he was driving and didn't hear the shot, but he heard glass breaking, charges state. Police found no broken glass inside the vehicle.
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A two-car accident connected to a shooting shut down northbound State Street for several hours Friday night.Police located a Glock handgun and a holster on the floor of the vehicle near the driver's seat, as well as a single shell casing behind the front passenger seat, according to the charges. Komasquin Lopez told police the gun belongs to him and he always carries it in his vehicle.
Komasquin Lopez told police his wife, who was right-handed, had shot herself, an account that police said was inconsistent with the location of the wound and other physical evidence, charges state.
Investigators said Komasquin Lopez later told a friend he was driving and hit a bump, causing the gun to fall, and as Shannon Lopez reached for the gun, it discharged accidentally.
