Nearly 32 Year Sentence in Bellevue Domestic Violence Murder

On Friday, the defendant in a Bellevue domestic violence murder was sentenced to 31.6 years (380 months). Friday’s sentencing follows a case argued by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which resulted in a guilty plea (Murder in the First Degree — Domestic Violence) on August 28, 2024. The resulting sentence is at the high-end of the sentencing range set by state lawmakers (320 months) and includes an additional 60 months for a firearm enhancement, for a total of 380 months.

This murder occurred on July 5, 2021, at Sam’s Tavern in Bellevue, where Dylan Jennings carried out a plan to shoot and kill his estranged wife, Anna “Maxx” Lopez, who was finishing work for the evening. He walked into the bar and shot and killed her. The defendant confessed to investigators that he killed Ms. Lopez because she was involved with someone else. During the interview with investigators the defendant showed no remorse and blamed his estranged wife for leaving him and for dating someone else. He referred to his actions as “taking care of business.”

Bellevue Police responded to this murder and took the defendant in custody. The assigned detectives thoroughly investigated this case to bring this defendant to justice.

Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Patrick Lavin and Stephanie Brennan, who are part of our Gender-based Violence & Prevention Division, prosecuted this case, and were assisted by Legal Service Professional, Jeremiah Ashworth. Karen Kunde and Allison Berger provided victim advocacy to the victim’s family. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office would also like to thank Bellevue Police Detective Trenton Chapel, the lead detective on this case, along with the entire Bellevue Police Department for their diligent efforts.