AMARILLO, TEXAS -- It took 2 separate autopsies, one civil and one criminal, to determine that a woman's death in Amarillo on November 5th was indeed a homicide.
Just before 1:30am that day, police responded to a call in the 1100 block of North Taylor on a report of an unconscious woman. When they got there they found 52-year-old Ofelia Lopez on the floor of the home without a pulse. Paramedics tried to bring her back, but were unable to. A Special Crimes Unit detective went to the scene, but there weren't any signs of foul play or a struggle.
Initially, it was thought that Lopez may have died from a medical condition. An autopsy was asked for, so Justice of the Peace Nancy Bosquez ordered Dr. Zamora at A to D Mortuary services in Amarillo to perform a civil autopsy. A civil autopsy is not performed with as much depth as the criminal autopsies that are normally in ProNews 7 reports.
On Sunday November 7th, Dr. Zamora discovered head and neck injuries during the civil procedure, and felt that Lopez may have been shot. That autopsy was stopped so a more detailed criminal procedure could be performed in Lubbock.
On Monday, November 8th, Dr. Parson conducted the criminal autopsy, and the preliminary results from that show that Lopez did indeed die from being shot.
The exact number and location of the wound or wounds are being withheld to maintain the integrity of the investigation.
There have been no arrests, and the investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information on this homicide are asked to call the Special Crimes Unit at 806-378-9468, or Amarillo Crime Stoppers at 806-374-4400.
