'Devoted' Landscaper Was Sent to Trim a Tree Outside a Home. The Renter Allegedly Shot Him To Death

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7 days ago

Manuel Vega Lopez was fatally shot in Gilbert, Ariz.
Police arrested Wyatt Ford on a second-degree murder charge
Vega's daughter is raising funds for her family after her father was killedA man who was hired as a landscaper by a landlord was allegedly fatally shot by a renter on the property, police said.
Manuel Vega Lopez, 51, was killed in Gilbert, Ariz., on Monday, May 19, the Gilbert Police Department said in a statement.
The following day, police arrested 28-year-old Wyatt Ford in connection with the shooting, per the statement.
Authorities say police responding to a report of an 'argument' found Lopez's body in front of a residence.
Lopez was shot while police were en route.
According to court documents cited by AZ Family, ABC 15 and AZ Central, Ford assumed Lopez was responsible for what Ford and his wife believed to be a break-in in their trailer a few days prior.
However, authorities alleged in court documents that Ford had been informed by the landlord that a landscaper would be coming to the location to trim trees in the yard, the outlets reported.
Ford's wife told authorities Ford had received the text message and responded to it.
After the shooting, one witness alleged they heard Ford saying 'I didn't mean to,' according to court documents cited by AZ Central.
In a GoFundMe set up to assist his family with taking his body to his native Mexico, Lopez's daughter said he was a "devoted hardworking landscaper" and the "eyes and legs" for his wife, who is on dialysis and losing her eyesight.
"He was a caring, attentive, respectful and loving husband, father and friend. A life full of love, hope, happiness and anything life could offer," Manuelita Vega said in the fundraiser.
"He built our family a home not in elegance but in simplicity and contentment. As a father, he worked with all his strength in all the ways he could, to earn the income and gave his family all the support he could," she added.
Lopez's son, a cancer survivor, also remains ill as the family grieves the "caring, attentive" landscaper's death, Vega wrote.Wyatt Ford was taken into the custody of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office on charges of second-degree murder, per Gilbert Police's statement.
It wasn't immediately clear if he has entered a plea. An attorney listed for him in court records did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
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