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. He was sentenced to natural life in prison without the possibility of release.

In April 2024, Pinal County Sheriff’s deputies found Christina dead in Florence at a home near Felix Road and Judd Road . Investigators say she had been stabbed 43 times.

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, pre

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