FLORENCE, AZ (AZFamily) — A Pinal County man recently received a life sentence for killing his estranged wife in what authorities called a “horrific murder” last year.

Javier Lopez pleaded guilty to the first-degree premeditated murder of 43-year-old Christina Lopez, Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller announced Monday.

In April 2024, Pinal County Sheriff’s deputies found Christina dead in Florence at a home near Felix Road and Judd Road .

Prosecutors say one of the couple’s three children was waiting outside the home in a vehicle and asked his father if he had hurt his mother after hearing screaming and crying inside the home.

“This was a calculated, premeditated act of murder that robbed a mother of her life and young children of their mother,” County Attorney Brad Miller said i

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