Sister Eagerly Awaits Long Delayed Trial for 2020 Shooting Death of her 17-Year-Old Brother in South Reno
A sister of Jonathan Lopez, pictured on left the year he was shot and killed in south Reno, is awaiting long delayed justice in a case that has been dragging for years.
Lopez, who was 17, was pronounced dead early in the morning of Sunday January 12th 2020 after a shooting in the 3600 block of South Virginia Street. There was another victim in the shooting who suffered from gunshot wounds.
The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office wrote to Our Town Reno today indicating a trial date for suspect Will Mendoza-Paniagua (in lower right photo) is now set for May 11th for open murder and attempted murder.
When asked if he had previously been released and details of that, PIO Kendall Holcomb wrote “The Reno Justice Court imposed his bail, so they would need to comment on anything related to that.”
We asked because his most recent booking date was January 14th, 2025, on a charge of violation of condition of release.
Mendoza-Paniagua was initially booked when he was 18 on January 13th, 2020, and held on a $750,000 bond on charges of open murder and attempter murder with a deadly weapon.
“There are people you meet once and somehow they never leave. They walk in, crack a joke, lend you their hoodie, and just like that they become home. With him the days were brighter. The nights shorter and life just made more sense because some friendships aren’t just memories. They’re imprints. And his laugh still echoes in the best corners of who we are. Though Jonathan’s time with us was cut short, his legacy lives on in the countless lives he touched. The impact and memories he left us will last forever. He will forever be missed and loved by many, we’re all grateful for the times we had with him and the lessons he taught us. He was not a fighter but a peacemaker and the glue to our family,” the sister of Jonathan Lopez wrote us in a tribute.
“My mother was telling me the other day that she is in the process of not forgetting but forgiving so she can have a little peace and is something that I wouldn’t expect a parent to say but I’m so proud of the person she has become and for trying to make that step because it’s never easy,” she wrote of her mother losing her first born in a shooting.
“The more family and friends that are there the better. Let’s show them that Jonathan was loved and not the bad person they’re trying to paint to be. Yes it won’t be easy to see or hear everything but Jonathan deserves the justice. Let’s give him what he should’ve gotten from the beginning. He was a loyal friend, guiding light and more than anything an irreplaceable presence in our lives. His contagious smile would light up any room he walked in and his kindness and way of caring for people touched everyone he met. He is very much missed and if there is one thing I remember about him is how he always put others before him and he was not a fighter but a peacemaker and sadly because of that he is not longer here with us,” she pleaded to get the community’s support during the upcoming trial.
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