Law enforcement officials continue to search for the man who gunned down a woman in broad daylight in a Sheffield Village McDonald’s parking lot on Jan. 6, police said.
Sheffield Village police identified James Kimbrough as a “person of interest” in the shooting death of 24-year-old Milenna Lopez. Lopez’s identity was confirmed to The Morning Journal by Sheffield Village Mayor James Hunter.
“We hate to have things happen like this in the village, but sometimes they are unavoidable,” said Hunter, who also expressed condolences to Lopez’s family.
Police believe that Kimbrough fled to Columbus, Hunter said.
Lopez was in her vehicle in the McDonald’s parking lot on a break just before 10 a.m. when she was shot, police indicated.
Kimbrough, 34, has a lengthy criminal record with the Lorain Municipal Courts dating back to 2007, according to the court website. The charges include domestic violence, unlawful restraint, criminal damaging, and endangering children, along with traffic-related charges.
Lisette Gracia, Lopez’s godmother, who is acting as the family spokesperson, said Lopez was the mother of four and was also the general manager at the McDonald’s where she was killed. Lopez attended Elyria Catholic High School and eventually graduated from Lorain High School, Gracia said. She was attending Lorain County JVS, where she was “on track to finish a dental assisting program,” in February, according to Gracia.
“She always wanted to be a dental hygienist, to work in the dentistry field. She loved people’s smiles and she had a beautiful smile herself,” Gracia said.
Kimbrough was the father of the two youngest of Lopez’s four children, according to Gracia, She confirmed Lopez and Kimbrough were involved in a tumultuous relationship and that Lopez had at least two restraining orders in place against Kimbrough.
“There’s a history,” said Gracia.
Gracia said she met Kimbrough “once or twice” but had no clear memories of those interactions.
The memories of Lopez are far more vivid for Gracia, who is a cousin of Lopez’s mother.
“I was in the hospital when she was born,” said Gracia.
On Jan. 6 Gracia was at work when she received a phone call informing her of Lopez’s death. She was so upset that co-workers had to drive her to the McDonald’s, 5250 Detroit Road, where she went to comfort Lopez’s mother, she said.
Garcia used the words “outgoing, sweet, friendly,” when asked to describe Lopez. “She was loved by many.”
Lopez’s four children were aged 6, 4, 2, and 1.
“Devastating. Devastating. Heartbreaking,” is how Gracia described the impact of Lopez’s death on her family.
Lopez’s death was one of three shooting deaths in Lorain County in the first six days of 2022.
On Jan. 1, Dominique Anderson, 28, was shot to death in an early-morning disturbance on Kerstetter Way. On Jan. 4, a man identified in media reports as Rolando Pilson, 40, was shot at an auto repair shop in the 100 block of Brace Avenue. No arrests had been made as of Jan. 9 in those two killings. In another shooting in Elyria on Jan. 5, a woman suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to her arm. Elyria police have said they do not believe any of the shootings in their city are related.
