A man was convicted of shooting and killing a New Jersey woman who he met on the marketplace app OfferUp.
On Wednesday, Marvin Coleman Jr., 24, was found guilty of murdering 21-year-old Maribely Lopez more than four years ago.
On March 7, 2019, shortly before 8:30 a.m., police were called to Medley Lane in Willingboro, New Jersey, for a report of a woman in a parked car with an apparent gunshot wound. Responding officers found Lopez, of Lindenwold, New Jersey, in the driver’s seat of her Ford Focus with the engine still running.
Investigators determined Coleman had made arrangements with Lopez through the OfferUp app to buy a used cell phone from her. They agreed that Lopez would meet Coleman in front of a home on Medley Lane which was a short walk from his home on Marlboro Lane.
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When Lopez arrived around 11 p.m. on March 6, Coleman pulled out a gun and fired a shot through the partially opened driver’s side window of her car. Lopez was shot in the head and died from her injuries.
Police later found the phone Lopez was going to sell Coleman inside of her car.
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After Lopez’s death, Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina urged people selling items online to strangers to utilize safe transaction zones offered by many local police departments.
Coleman’s sentencing is scheduled for June 9.
