‘A laugh that stuck with you:’ Las Vegas pedestrian killed in crash was father of 3
The Lopez family expected a phone call on Tuesday morning. The call was routine: Steven Lopez, returning home after his night shift at Walmart, would ring his partner and three children while riding the bus. They would say “Good morning” and “I love you” to each other before the kids scurried out of the house for school.
Instead, that morning, Aletheia Landon, Lopez’s partner of 16 years, received a call from Las Vegas police telling her that Lopez, 41, had been hit by a car and killed.
Lopez was crossing Sahara Avenue, near Eastern Avenue, outside of a marked crosswalk just after 7:50 a.m. Tuesday when a car struck him, the Metropolitan Police Department said.
Afterward, Lopez was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The 23-year-old driver remained at the scene and did not show signs of impairment, police said.
Landon, in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, said that she and her children were “still trying to figure it all out.”
“My head is all over the place, and I am just in disbelief,” Landon said. “I never thought I would be getting that call.”
A laugh that stuck
Landon said Lopez had a closet full of Jordan sneakers and a laugh that “stuck with you.” She described him as quiet, ambitious, and family-oriented.
The couple has two daughters, Chloe, 17, and Calise, 11, as well as a 7-year-old son named Cole. A couple of years ago, Lopez had moved from where his partner and kids live in Los Angeles, California, to Las Vegas after landing a job that promised better pay, and in turn, more support for his family, Landon said.
With the help of other relatives, Landon has created a GoFundMe page to raise money for funeral expenses and to “afford what their father can no longer provide.” Landon also said that their oldest seemed to take Lopez’s death the hardest.
“She keeps asking why,” Landon said. “She’s thinking about how her father won’t be at her high school graduation. She knows she’s about to be an adult, and she’ll experience all sorts of things without him.”
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.
