An 18-year-old man has been charged with murder after authorities say a dispute over an informal soccer game outside a Grand Rapids school ended with the deaths of a 15-year-old boy and a mother of seven.
Rafael Martinez-Lopez, 18, was charged Thursday in Kent County with two counts of open murder in connection with the deaths of Jeremiah Cuevas-Griffin, 15, and Savanah Villarreal, 39. Prosecutors also charged him with carrying a weapon with unlawful intent, violating a school weapons-free zone, carrying a concealed weapon, and two counts of using a firearm during the commission of a felony.
The shooting happened Tuesday evening near Southwest Elementary Academia Bilingüe. Grand Rapids Interim Police Chief Joe Trigg said a man approached a group of kids playing soccer shortly before 6:40 p.m. and asked to join the game.
According to authorities, the man was turned away. Police said that rejection sparked a verbal altercation with the kids, including Jeremiah. Villarreal then stepped in to defend the boy during the argument, and police said that her intervention made her a target.
Martinez-Lopez allegedly fled after the shooting and was arrested later, according to police.
The tragedy forced Grand Rapids Public Schools to cancel classes at Southwest Elementary on Wednesday and Thursday. The district said a crisis response team was made available to students, and additional counseling and support resources would be provided for students and families when classes resumed on Friday.
In a statement, the district thanked the community for its patience, compassion, and support during what it called a difficult time, adding that its thoughts remained with everyone affected by the tragedy.
The victims’ families and the wider Grand Rapids community are now grieving two lives lost in a violent confrontation that police say began with a simple request to join a soccer game.
Villarreal was identified by family as a mother of seven children, ranging in age from 3 to 17. Jeremiah’s family also launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover funeral-related costs, describing him as “an amazing and bright young man” with a “sweet and gentle spirit.”
The family said Jeremiah’s death was a tremendous loss not only for relatives and friends, but also for the school community that knew him.
The case has left a neighborhood shaken, a school community in mourning, and two families facing the kind of loss that began in the most ordinary of places: a group of kids playing soccer near school.
