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Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated that Conner was killed in a hit-and-run. The driver in fact stopped after the collision.
Connor Lopez was a piano teacher at New Songs School of Music in Elk Grove, California. His sister, Ella Lopez, loved to listen to him play piano.
“I have a bit of a dance background, so there would be many times where I’m like, ‘Connor, play a beautiful song so I can do some ballet,’” Ella said. “That was always so nice to just be able to prance around in the house, like when he lived there, and he would just play the most beautiful songs.”
She said that he started teaching piano to her and her other siblings.
“I’d find a song [and say] ‘Hey, will you teach me how to play this song?’” Ella said. “He listens to it twice and he plays the whole thing. And I’m like, ‘Well, now can you teach me? Can you dumb it down to someone that doesn’t know anything about music?’”
Lopez died on Wednesday April 23, 2025 after being struck in a vehicle accident while riding a motorcycle when he was 23 years old.
Every Wednesday since, his family has gathered at the entrance of the Winco parking lot off of Sheldon Road in Elk Grove where he was killed. Their aim: to spread awareness about his death and the law that allows for drivers to commit vehicular manslaughter and stay on California roads.
Allison Lyman stands with her family at the entrance to the Winco parking lot off Sheldon Road, where her son died in April of last year, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026.Ruth Finch/CapRadio
Lopez’s mother, Allison Lyman, has spearheaded the effort to bring attention to Connor’s death.
Lyman said it was preventable, and that the carelessness necessary to hit someone in the turn into the Winco parking lot should come at a higher price.
“He was at that light. It turns green, you have a wave of traffic. He’s coming forward, people just turn. You just turn, and no one dies here,” Lyman said. “The level of negligence to take a life here … It’s so extreme. But his death in California is a misdemeanor.”
When Lyman and her family went to court for the arraignment of Connor’s killer, Ella said that his death was lumped in with a slew of other misdemeanors that were on the same docket.
“I didn’t even think my heart could break anymore,” Ella said. “She couldn’t even show up to see what she has caused.”
When you’re convicted of a misdemeanor in California, you don’t have to personally show up to the arraignment.
“We sat in that courtroom with people being accused of stealing, you know, a couple hundred dollars from Target with people that were unhoused and just really petty, low-level crimes,” Lyman said. “Then I have to hear the death of Connor Lopez. And she’s not even there.”
This vehicular manslaughter charge being a misdemeanor, it’s also eligible for a pretrial diversion program. This could mean that instead of serving time or having her license revoked, the woman who hit Connor may just face traffic school or community service.
“Then, once they complete that program, like I mentioned, they have the charge dismissed against them. If this was charged as a felony, that takes diversion off the table, but so many of them are charged as misdemeanors,” Lyman said. “That tells us in California, Connor’s life is worth less than $950.”
Vehicular manslaughter is what’s called a “wobbler,” which means it can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the circumstance. The woman who hit Lopez was charged with a misdemeanor.
“There was a Tesla behind Connor that caught that with their dash cam,” Lyman said. “The driver didn’t even stop. She plows through.”
If pre-trial diversion is granted, there won’t be any mark on the driver’s record with the DMV. In a recent CalMatters investigation, they found that most of the drivers granted diversion in vehicular manslaughter cases don’t get a mark on their record.
“Once the driver completes that program, the charge is dismissed from their record, it goes away, it's expunged,” Lyman said. “We have no way to track repeat offenders. They can drive Ubers. They can drive school buses. There’s just no consequence at all.”
On Lopez’s memorial page, Lyman started a petition that has reached over 11,000 signatures to exclude vehicular manslaughter from pre-trial diversion.
Lyman has been meeting with California lawmakers to change the laws regarding pretrial diversion so they can draft legislation before the February 20th deadline to introduce new bills.
“This is a legislative issue. It needs a legislative fix. It was a law that put these dangerous drivers back on our road,” Lyman said. “We didn’t know about it until Connor’s death. And every single person we’ve spoken to has not been aware of what’s happened.”
On Jan. 29, Assemblymember Lori Wilson introduced a bill to the 2025-2026 session that would require a court that has dismissed a misdemeanor case for pretrial diversion to communicate that violation to the DMV so points can be added to the driver’s license and the accident can be recorded on driver’s record.
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