Arrest warrant out for James Kimbrough; mother of woman slain in Sheffield shooting speaks

An arrest warrant was signed Monday against James Kimbrough in connection with the shooting death of Milenna Lopez outside the McDonald's restaurant on Detroit Road in Sheffield on Thursday. Sheffield police Lt. Aaron Bober said Monday that police "have probable cause to believe that he is the one that murdered her." Kimbrough's whereabouts remain unknown. His last known address was in Lorain. Lopez was shot and killed in her GMC Acadia outside the restaurant where she worked shortly before 10 a.m. Thursday. Multiple people called 911 and one of those callers tried to give her first aid. Bober said the U.S. Marshals Service already was searching for Kimbrough because he had other warrants out for his arrest at the time of the shooting. Before the warrant was signed, Kimbrough was considered a person of interest in the murder case. His car was found and seized as evidence by police on the day of the shooting, but Kimbrough remained at large. Anyone with information on the crime or Kimbrough's whereabouts is asked to call Sheffield police at (440) 949-6155. Mother in mourning Lopez's mother, Jessica Mojica, said her daughter worked hard and had just been promoted to general manager of the McDonald's. Coworkers there were like a second family, she said. Lopez, 24, was the mother of two boys ages 4 and 6 and two girls ages 1 and 2. She had "a big heart," went to school and worked more than 45 hours each week, her mother said. Lopez was set to graduate from the dental assistant program at Lorain County JVS next month, her mother told The Chronicle-Telegram during a brief interview on Monday. Lopez was very proud when she got a score of 100 on an assignment, and Mojica said she once asked her daughter why she wanted to work in dentistry. Lopez told her it was because she wanted everyone to have a beautiful smile. "She just wanted to graduate and make it. Just make her children proud. She wanted to make me proud. She wanted to have a future," her mother said. Lopez planned to keep going with her studies, too, her mother said. "She wanted to keep studying, but hard worker? When you say Milenna, that's the first thing: Hard worker. She liked working. That's very odd for a kid her age," Mojica said. Lopez would do anything for family. "No one could mess" with her siblings, whom she loved as much as her own children, Mojica said. An online fundraising campaign has been started to help her family. Past police calls Police were called multiple times to incidents involving Lopez and Kimbrough, with varying stories about what occurred. Lorain police were called at least six times between June 2019 and October 2021, according to copies of reports viewed by The Chronicle. Kimbrough was the alleged instigator in most of the incidents, though Lopez faced misdemeanor charges at least twice in Lorain Municipal Court over incidents involving him. At 3 a.m. June 2, 2019, officers responded to an apartment in the 1000 block of Tower Boulevard for a report of domestic violence and criminal damaging. Lopez told officers that Kimbrough was there, arguing with her over their 3-month-old child. She told police he had hit her several times, thrown her against the wall and threatened to kill her if she called police. Lopez's brothers and other family members showed up and threw Kimbrough out. Around 2:45 a.m. that morning, her bedroom window was broken by a rock, though Lopez didn't see Kimbrough throw it. She signed a complaint and requested a temporary protection order. Kimbrough later made his own complaint against Lopez, saying that her brother had answered the door when Kimbrough went to pick up their child and had punched him in the face. Kimbrough also told police Lopez pulled his hair and hit him in the face. Kimbrough was arrested on misdemeanor charges of domestic violence and criminal damaging. A month later, shortly before 2 a.m. on July 6, 2019, officers were called to a burglary in progress at the same Tower Boulevard address. There, they found a ground-floor window broken and Kimbrough trying to climb out. Police saw him and Lopez inside, and Kimbrough eventually surrendered. Officers learned Lopez had a protection order against him and she told them she was asleep when he began pounding on her windows and doors. Two of Lopez's children were in the home at the time. She said Kimbrough asked her if there was another man with her, grabbed her, kicked her in the stomach and head and threw her around the room after he broke through the front door. Lopez told police she ran to her son's room and called 911, then told him to hide the phone. She said Kimbrough refused to let her open the door for police, and said he would kill her brother. Kimbrough was arrested on misdemeanor charges of domestic violence, violation of a protection order, unlawful restraint and endangering children. The morning of Feb. 23, 2020, Lorain officers were called back to the apartment for a report of shots fired. Officers found a 2019 Ford Fusion rental car with its driver's side and rear driver's side windows shot out and a bullet fragment in the passenger side door panel. Lopez told officers she'd been asleep when she was woken by gunshots and debris flying around the room. She told officers she had issues with Kimbrough before, and had gotten a text message from him stating "im shoot yo (expletive) up too." There were additional texts alluding to violence and retaliation against one another between Lopez and Kimbrough, according to the report. She said Kimbrough threatened her all the time, but that she didn't always take him seriously. She said Kimbrough's mother had asked if she could keep Lopez and Kimbrough's daughter over the weekend, and Lopez agreed. Lopez later told police she thought that was pre-planned so their daughter was not home at the time of the shooting. In a follow-up interview, Lopez told police she thought Kimbrough was stalking her, had called and texted her from unknown numbers, and had threatened to shoot up her bedroom and car a few days prior. Kimbrough was arrested on charges of improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation, domestic violence and criminal damaging. At the time of the incident, Kimbrough was on probation and was ordered not to have any contact with Lopez. He had two domestic violence arrests but no convictions. On March 14, 2021, officers were called to an apartment in the 4500 block of Ashland Avenue for a dispute between Lopez and Kimbrough. Both were intoxicated and arguing inside Kimbrough's mother's apartment when officers arrived. Kimbrough told officers that Lopez showed up at his mother's apartment, where she was not wanted. When she got there, the pair argued and Kimbrough said Lopez attacked him. According to the report, Lopez and Kimbrough were both injured, and there was blood on the walls, floors and furniture in the home when officers arrived. Lopez's injures appeared to be more minor, while Kimbrough had multiple bite marks on his chest, back and left thumb and scratches to his face, neck and chest. He told officers the pair had two children together, but he was unable to spell either child's name, according to police reports. Lopez was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence. That charge later was dismissed in Lorain Municipal Court. On the night of May 26, 2021, officers responded to an assault complaint at Game On bar on Broadway in Lorain after the caller reported being hit by a car. Kimbrough told police he was at the bar when Lopez arrived for a bachelorette party. He said he and a friend tried to leave when Lopez approached him, but Lopez began arguing with him about not watching their children. Kimbrough told officers she slapped him in the back of the head, hit him in the face and ripped his shirt. Lopez was found sitting in a car nearby, her legs and feet red, scraped and bleeding and a scratch on her face. Lopez said Kimbrough had pushed her and that he had hit her with the car while he was driving. Kimbrough's friend, Terrell Higgins, told police he came out of Game On and saw Lopez attacking Kimbrough. Officers determined Lopez was the "primary physical aggressor" in the situation and was accidentally hit by the vehicle while trying to get in it while Kimbrough was trying to leave. She was arrested on a domestic violence charge. That charge was amended to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in Lorain Municipal Court. Lopez pleaded no contest to that charge and was fined, according to court records. Finally, on Oct. 17, 2021, officers responded shortly after 8:30 p.m. to the 2300 block of Beech Avenue, where Kimbrough was reportedly being held down by a group of people after assaulting Lopez. He had an active warrant for domestic violence and a temporary protection order that had yet to be served, barring him from contacting her. Kimbrough was found lying on the sidewalk in front of a home on West 24th Street, with four people standing around him. He was bleeding from his nose and mouth. He told officers a group of people had jumped him after he left his girlfriend's house. He said Lopez cut his back — though there were no injuries there — and then her family jumped him when he tried to leave. Lopez told police she heard pounding at her back window around 8 p.m. and saw it was Kimbrough. She said she opened the door, as she was afraid Kimbrough would break the window. He forced his way inside, smacked her, and an argument started, she said. Lopez and Kimbrough's 10-month-old daughter began crying. Lopez picked her up and began walking upstairs. Kimbrough tried to stop her and began hitting her while she was walking upstairs, she told police. Once upstairs, Kimbrough put the child in her bouncer and tried to take Lopez's cellphone. He took Lopez to her son's room, and said he would not let her leave and would throw her out the window if she tried, according to the report. He allegedly held her down on the bed and put his elbow on her neck. She kicked him in the crotch to get him off of her, the report said. When Kimbrough went to check on one of the children, Lopez was able to text her mother to come over. Lopez's family confronted Kimbrough and he ran from the home. Kimbrough was charged with aggravated burglary, felonious assault, and disrupting public service, all felonies, and two misdemeanor domestic violence charges. Lorain Municipal Judge Mark Mihok set bond, and a bondsman posted $20,000 on Kimbrough's behalf, according to court records. On Nov. 24, a Lorain County grand jury indicted Kimbrough on charges of aggravated burglary and kidnapping, both felonies, as well as misdemeanor domestic violence and child endangering. Kimbrough pleaded not guilty to those charges in Common Pleas Judge Chris Cook's courtroom on Dec. 2. Cook continued Kimbrough's bond and he remained free pending future court dates, according to court records. If you are in a physically, emotionally or sexually violent relationship and need emergency assistance call, 911. You can also call Genesis House Lorain County Safe Harbor's 24-7 crisis hotlines at (440) 244-1853 or (440) 323-3400; the Ohio Domestic Violence Network at (800) 934-9840; or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-7233 outside normal business hours. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on Twitter. Contact Dylan Reynolds at (440) 329-7123 or dreynolds@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @drey1357. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.