Mother, Model, Advocate For Crime Victims Fantacia Lopez Must Have Mouth Wired Shut After Being Shot In Face Herself
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A mother, model, and advocate for victims of violent crimes is now herself the victim of a violent crime.
As CBS 2's Shardaa Gray reported Friday, mother of two Fantacia Lopez, 30, is now even more determined to bring peace to the community after being caught in the middle of gang crossfire.
Lopez's mouth will be wired shut for two weeks. As a model and a singer, she said this will be a major setback – but she is grateful the bullets didn't hit her son.
Still, a beautiful voice has now been put on pause due to gun violence.
"I really, really, honestly thought it was over," Lopez said.
Lopez is an advocate for crime and immigration reform.
"My jawbone saved my life," she said.
Lopez was shot in the jaw last Saturday in the Lawndale community.
"If it wasn't for the angle in which the bullet entered my body, I wouldn't even be standing here right now," she said.
Lopez had planned to drop off her 7-year-old son at her sister's house, near 15th Street and Western Avenue. Then, she was going to go out and celebrate her friend's birthday.
Four people were in the car, including her son. Lopez said they heard a loud noise hit the car. It was a bullet.
"My son got scared, so I grabbed his head and shoved him to the bottom of the car," she said, "and I said: 'Drive and drive fast. I got hit by something - I don't know what it is.'"
Lopez says her son now has to live with the horrifying image of blood gushing from her face.
"All this blood starting flowing everywhere," she said, "all over my child, all over the car."
Deon Malik, Lopez's boyfriend, says just two hours before they left the house, he asked to say a prayer over his son.
"You know, make sure he's protected, and just keep that energy alive," Malik said. "You know it's like, God heard my prayers, I guess, you know? And kept him safe."
Malik said he is devastated his girlfriend was injured, as well as another person in the car. But is grateful no lives were lost.
"It's just a feeling that like I don't think people should ever have to go through," he said.
Lopez said the reason she is speaking out is to give a voice to those caught in the crossfire.
"I just want to show him, like, what he's responsible for," she said. "Like, look at what you did to a family just because you don't have good aim."
With her mouth being wired shut, it'll take some time before she's able to model and sing again.
Lopez told us the gunman is still on the loose. There is a GoFundMe account to help with her medical bills, which you can find here.