Gang Victims’ Friend Earns National Honor

An Orange County program created seven years ago to help victims of gang violence will receive the National Victims Service Award in a Washington, D.C., ceremony April 18.

Atty. Gen. Janet Reno is scheduled to present the prestigious award to Christine Lopez, a former nurse and probation worker who created the Gang Victim Services Program.

Because Lopez has notified dozens of families that their sons or daughters were killed by suspected gang members, she has become known in some communities as the “Angel of Death.” She has helped many of those victims through a maze of police agencies and court proceedings as they have tried to bring the killers to justice.

Lopez and staff members have also worked with witnesses to gang violence, trying to convince them to come forward despite threats or perceived risks.

Lopez, who learned of the award Wednesday morning, said she was “surprised and greatly pleased and frankly overwhelmed.” By the afternoon, she was making travel arrangements for her two adult children and staff members to accompany her to the ceremony.

Gang Victim Services, which is funded primarily by federal and state grants, is one of 15 to be recognized nationwide this year and was chosen from 188 nominees, said Linda Mansour, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice. She said Lopez “is recognized statewide and nationally for her expertise in gang-related victim witness issues and her knowledge of the Hispanic community.”

The National Victims Service Award is given annually to people and groups that help crime victims.

Lopez’s program was nominated by Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi, with support from Western Medical Center, which operates a trauma center in Santa Ana; McDougall Family Mortuary in Santa Ana, and the Anaheim and Santa Ana police departments. The range of support indicates the scope of Lopez’s work and the broad impact she and staff members have had in helping victims cope with their losses.

Two other programs from California are to be recognized, said Mansour. One was started in San Diego by the families of a pizza deliveryman who was shot to death and the man who killed him. The grandfather of the gunman and the father of the victim visit schools together to discourage violence, she said.

Also, the Violence Intervention Program in Los Angeles will be recognized for its pioneering work in finding ways to document medical evidence in cases of sexual assault on children, she said.