LANCASTER—Roberto Flores Lopez died Wednesday morning, August 19, after he was brutally robbed and attacked in the restroom at Superior Grocers in Lancaster California on the morning of July 7, according to his relatives. He was 80 years old.
Roberto Flores Lopez left behind his wife Amelia, four children, 16 grandchildren and one great-grandson.
The victim had his wallet stolen and was assaulted in the restroom at Superior Grocers on East Avenue J and Challenger Way in Lancaster. Injuries included five broken ribs, broken eyes socket, multiple facial fractures and mental trauma, and he was treated in the intensive care unit of Antelope Valley Hospital, according to his family. They established a GoFundMe fundraiser to cover his medical costs on July 9.
On July 15, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced that suspect Damaris Wade was charged with attempted murder, elder abuse, infliction of injury, and second-degree robbery with allegations of inflicting great bodily injury upon a victim age 70 or older. He had been convicted of robbery in 2016, said LA County District Attorney’s Office. He gave himself up to the police days after the assault.
On July 21, Christopher Ramirez, Roberto’s grandson, reported that Roberto was released from hospital after 2 long weeks of recovery as the last update of his condition on GoFundMe. Roberto was taken back to the hospital, and he died there around 5 a.m. on August 19. The fundraising page has received more than $63,000 as of August 20, and it is still active.
His family held a press conference in the afternoon, where they called for upgraded charges. “This case went from just a robbery and an assault to murder…We want this whole entire thing, for the guy that did this to my dad — for him to get it for manslaughter, and to get charges for manslaughter and murder,” the victim’s son Fransisco said, according to KTLA.
