Family left heartbroken as young woman killed in alleged domestic violence horror: ‘Forever 24’

A heartbroken Southern California family is speaking out after their beloved daughter and sister was gunned down inside a Pomona apartment complex — only realizing she was the victim while watching a live police chase on television.

Veronica Lopez, 24, was shot and killed Thursday afternoon in what police say was a double homicide allegedly carried out by her boyfriend before he fled, triggering a multi-agency freeway pursuit that ended with his arrest.

Now, her grieving relatives are left searching for answers.

“Why? Why did he kill my baby? Why did he kill her?” her mother, Sheila Lopez, told ABC7.

Officers responded just before 3:30 p.m. to reports of gunfire near Monterey and Garey avenues in Pomona. When they arrived, they found a man and a woman dead from gunshot wounds inside an apartment complex.

Authorities have not publicly identified the second victim.

Family members identified the woman as Veronica Lopez, saying she lived in San Diego and had been dating suspect Robert Galtman for about two years despite repeated concerns from relatives about the relationship.

Loved ones described Lopez as a bright, talented young woman whose future was stolen in an instant.

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“She was our fifth daughter. Very beautiful, very young, very talented,” her father Coby Lopez told CBS. “She used to be a pro skater, had so much positives going in her life. I don’t know what kind of problems she was going through, but we tried to help her. … So young, taken out by a coward.”

Relatives remembered Lopez as someone whose “smile could light up a room” and who made everyone around her “feel loved and valued.”

Her sister Klarissa Lopez said the family realized something was wrong while watching live television coverage of the police chase.

“We were watching the chase after it was live and my mom noticed the car and the dog that they rescued. We called Pomona police and they confirmed it with fingerprints that it was my sister Veronica,” She told ABC. “Veronica was a wonderful, wonderful daughter, very vibrant, happy and a go getter.”

Outside the apartment complex where the violence unfolded, family members gathered around a growing memorial of candles and balloons, mourning a daughter, sister and friend they say was loved by everyone who knew her.

After the shooting, investigators say Galtman fled in a black Kia sedan, prompting a countywide manhunt.

Authorities later tracked the vehicle using an automatic license plate reader that detected it on the northbound 5 Freeway in Sylmar. The pursuit stretched for roughly 90 minutes before officers used a PIT maneuver to bring the chase to an end.

Galtman was taken into custody and is being held on $3.1 million bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Pomona.

As they prepare for funeral services, Lopez’s family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover expenses and honor her memory.

In a tribute shared after her death, relatives summed up their grief in six heartbreaking words:

“Forever 24. Forever loved. Forever missed.”