Anniversaries are usually special moments, ones we cherish, memories that make us smile.
Ana Lopez, of Blue Island, finds herself dealing with two anniversaries on completely different ends of the spectrum.
Thursday marked one year since she, husband Morales Ricardo Lopez and daughter Karimeh, the youngest of their three children, were busy putting together Valentine’s Day goodie bags for her then second-grade classmates.
“We were just doing that last night,” she said of herself and Karimeh, 8. and now a third-grader.
That is one of those happy memories.
The other anniversary comes on Feb. 17 and it is filled with sorrow. It will be a very hard Monday for Ana and Karimeh.
Monday mark one year since Morales Ricardo Lopez, 36, was gunned down in cold blood after an argument outside a tavern in McCook.
“One year. A long year. The longest winter in my life. The cold never felt so cold before like it does now,” Ana said Thursday, Feb. 13, outside Room 110 of the Bridgeview Courthouse after another status hearing.
“It’s a hard month. A lot of emotions. But we’re trusting God to bring justice,” she said. “I’m looking forward to spring, looking forward for this month to be done.”
A brief status hearing on Thursday revealed that the prosecution and defense both need more discovery before the case can proceed to a trial.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge John “Terry” Gallagher scheduled the next status hearing for 9:30 a.m. March 10 in Room 110.
Ana will be there, as she has attended every hearing for Sisto Brito, 33, the Chicago man charged with the murder of her husband.
She said she prayed Thursday morning for a quick resolution and “that the judge will give some justice and not just let (Brito) out.”
The past year has been especially hard on Karimeh.
“She’s been telling me, ‘I miss my Daddy.’ There are times when we’re driving to school, I look in the rearview mirror and she was crying.
“I ask, ‘Why are you crying?’ She says ‘I’m thinking about Dad’,” Ana said, her own eyes filling with tears.
“It’s tough to see your little girl (like that). As adults, we can bear things differently. But when you’re a child growing up. … She writes notes to him,” Ana said.
Karimeh is “definitely a Daddy’s girl,” said Ana, who fondly recalls her husband and daughter eating ice cream together “no matter what time of year.”
She and Karimeh kept that tradition alive earlier this week by visiting Rainbow Cone in Orland Park for ice cream.
Ana’s brother, Jesus Dorantes, also attended Thursday’s hearing
Dorantes introduced his best friend to his sister when they were in high school. Ana and Morales Ricardo fell in love, married and had three children together.
Dorantes knows where he will be on Monday.
“I’m going to visit his grave, drink a beer. Modelo. Stay there for a while. Listen to some music. Reminisce,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dorantes said he is hoping Brito “gets what he deserves.”
Brito is also charged with two counts of attempted murder because he shot a second man, who survived, after chasing the two men down Joliet Avenue from 47th Street.
There had been an argument outside a bar over how Brito had parked his car.
Words were exchanged. A fistfight broke out. After the fight ended, Brito reached into his car and pulled out a gun, McCook police have said.
Two other men ran north, Lopez and the other man who was shot ran south and were allegedly shot by Brito near Joliet Road.
In January, McCook Deputy Police Chief Dave DeLeshe said Brito had no previous criminal record, adding “he just snapped.”
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