KISSIMMEE, Fla. — A 71-year-old killed in Kissimmee Thursday is being remembered as a church-going man who “loved spending time with his family.”
Charles Harper died Thursday morning after he was found with visible blunt force trauma injuries outside a home on Heather Way.
According to his obituary, he is survived by his wife, daughter, stepchildren, and 6 grandchildren.
On Tuesday, the Kissimmee Police Department named a “Person of interest” in Harper’s homicide investigation.
Channel 9 was the only crew in court Friday when that person of interest, 32-year-old Nicolas Lopez, appeared on unrelated charges in Seminole County.
Investigators say Lopez was arrested in Altamonte Springs while driving Harper’s truck. He is charged with resisting an officer without violence, providing a false ID to law enforcement, and grand theft auto in connection with the theft of Harper’s vehicle.
According to the Altamonte Springs police report, after Lopez was booked into the Seminole County jail, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office contacted Altamonte Springs Police about Kissimmee’s homicide investigation.
The report says Harper’s cellphone was pinging in the area where officers had stopped Lopez in Altamonte Springs.
On Tuesday, investigators with the Kissimmee Police Department once again returned to the Kissimmee home where Harper was killed.
Channel 9 crews have spotted investigators rummaging through trash, scouring the front lawn, and focusing on a shed in the back of the home collecting evidence in the case.
While investigators haven’t released additional info, court records show law enforcement was familiar with the person of interest.
In 2025, Lopez was arrested by the Orlando Police Department for sleeping on the sidewalk. That same year, he was also trespassed from the Orlando Public Library.
And records show in 2023 Lopez was convicted for beating a woman he lived with. According to the arrest report, he violently smashed the victims face on the floor while saying “I am going to kill you and end you.”
Since Harper’s death last week, his family has requested privacy.
According to an obituary posted Tuesday, those who know Harper describe him as a trustworthy, kindhearted, and respectable man who enjoyed gardening and was active in his church.
Neighbors told Channel 9, Harper was at the Kissimmee home to help a friend he met through church do housework.
The property owner told Channel 9 the home was vacant and for sale when Harper was killed.
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