MESA, AZ — The family of Lorenzo Lopez, a 36-year-old autistic man found dead in a van outside a Mesa care facility, is speaking out — and their attorney says the death was a preventable tragedy.
Lopez relied on a van to travel to Pathways for Life, where he received care five days a week. On June 4, Mesa police found his body inside the van, parked outside the building. His family had grown worried when he did not arrive as expected.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner determined Lopez died from overexposure to heat. Temperatures that day were close to 106 degrees.
Attorney Kurt Maahs, who represents the family, said a Pathways staffer signed Lopez in that morning. But Lopez could not open the van doors, and no one came to help him. Maahs said Lopez was inside the van for more than eight hours.
"He was a known entity. They knew his capabilities. They knew he attended Monday through Friday," Maahs said on Thursday.
Maahs questioned whether adequate safety measures were ever in place at the facility.
"You'd hope somebody would walk past the van and see him. You would hope somebody would know he's missing because he was checked in. Whatever safeguards they had were not adequate, if they had any safeguards at all," Maahs said.
He also described the toll the loss has taken on those who loved Lopez.
"Having somebody gone from a close-knit family like this is just devastating. It's even more devastating when somebody is taken away from you tragically," Maahs said.
Mesa police said their investigation is ongoing and that the report could take time. ABC15 has requested body camera video from the day of Lopez's death.
The family will not file a lawsuit until it receives the police report, Maahs said.
"This is tragic and horrible and should never be repeated," he said.
ABC15 approached Pathways staff for comment Thursday, but they declined to speak. Maahs said the family is coming forward in hopes that what happened to Lopez never happens to anyone else.
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