News 12 Staff

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May 6, 2023, 6:23 PM

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Updated

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The Bed-Stuy family of a man who was killed by two undercover NYPD officers in 2003 held a memorial Saturday to remember him.

Police say then-19-year-old Carlos Lopez shot and killed another man near Gates Avenue before the officers fatally shot him. His family has maintained that he was innocent.

Lopez's family has called for their loved one’s case to be reopened.

"Twenty years as of May 1st and it feels like it was yesterday. It hurts," said Lopez's sister, Lillian Lopez.

"You know, you would think, it never gets better. It gets worse," said Lopez's mother, Carolyn Lopez. "He's innocent, a 19-year-old Roman Catholic altar boy that never did nothing. Nothing."

The family believes Lopez was just an innocent bystander on the wrong street at the wrong time.

"I want justice for my son," Carolyn Lopez said.

Two decades later, the Lopez family continues to fight for that justice, begging the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office to reopen the case and review new evidence that they say will clear his name.

"My family will be OK when something is done," Lillian Lopez said.

Surrounded by family and friends, the Lopez family gathered to celebrate his life just as they have done every year.

"I mean, every year. Birthdays, he was loved, he was a clown, but he was loved," Lillian Lopez said.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams also attended the memorial service. He said something has got to be done not just in this case but across the board.

"In 20 years, we are now hearing the same story over and over and over. Not only are we not getting justice the families should have. We're just adding more people to the names," Williams said.

Lopez would have been 39 years old. His family said he left behind one son who he never got to meet.

News 12 reached out to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office for a comment but had not heard back as of Saturday night.