For six agonizingly long months, the family of shooting victim Andrea Anzola cried next to her ashes and waited -- sometimes patiently, but mostly with frustration -- for the legal system to work.

It was difficult for the family to understand why the man investigators say killed 20-year-old Anzola in a Keys hotel room in March while fooling around with a loaded gun was still free.

On Wednesday, Anzola's family, of Pembroke Pines, got the news they had hoped for: Damian Lopez, Anzola's on-again-off-again boyfriend, was in jail in Miami-Dade County.

Early Wednesday, a Monroe County judge signed off on the arrest warrant for Lopez, 26, of Plantation, on the charge of manslaughter with a firearm. It's a first-degree felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

A few hours later, Lopez was taken into custody by Miami-Dade police while working for a fire sprinkler company at Miami International Airport.

He was taken to Miami-Dade County Detention Center. Bail was set for $75,000.

''I heard the news and started crying. I'm so happy,'' said Anzola's brother, German, who has vigilantly kept up-to-date on the case.

''It's been very hard on me and my family. But we could never give up. It's my sister, my baby sister. She deserves justice.''

The tragedy began with a weekend trip in the Keys. Anzola and Lopez, both natives of Venezuela, and married couple Luiz Gomez and Roselyn Gonzales stopped at Knight's Key Inn in Marathon on March 22.

The group rented Room 2, an inexpensive, two-bedroom suite. They swam in the hotel pool and had a few beers before returning to the room to shower and get dressed for the 47-mile jaunt to Key West for a night of partying.

Anzola was fixing her hair at the mirror with her hands above her head when Lopez, arranging items in his fanny pack, approached her from behind, according to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office report.

A LOUD BANG

Gonzales told detectives she heard Anzola say: ''Damian, don't play like that.'' Seconds later, she heard a loud bang and saw Lopez supporting Anzola under her arms and screaming for Gonzales to call 911.

Lopez was not charged at the scene. He gave a quick statement, saying Anzola had fired the gun. Hours later he hired a lawyer and declined to talk again with investigators.

The bullet, which the report said had come from the semiautomatic .40 caliber Glock found on the hotel bed and registered to Lopez, entered Anzola's body just below her left breast.

The bullet struck bone, penetrated her heart and other internal organs and exited below her right armpit. The same bullet ended up lodged in Lopez's right forearm, where it was removed days later at a Broward County hospital and retrieved by police.

The bullet's path supports Gonzales' scenario because Lopez is left-handed.

Just six days after the shooting, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office presented a probable cause affidavit for an arrest warrant charging Lopez with manslaughter.

The state attorney's office in Monroe County did not approve the warrant application, saying it wanted to make sure there were no loopholes in the case.

One missing piece: the results of gunshot residue tests on Anzola and Lopez. With crime labs backed up, it took months to get the results.

FAMILY'S SUFFERING

''Our office has been acutely aware of the suffering [Anzola's] family has been through, but gathering solid admissible evidence sometimes is a painstakingly slow process,'' said Matthew Helmerich, spokesman for the state attorney's office.

Those gun residue tests ultimately did not prove who fired the gun. But it did prove Lopez was in the room when it was fired.

On Tuesday, Monroe County detectives met with officials from the state attorney's office. This time, the arrest warrant was granted. But before it could be executed, it needed the signature of a judge. They got it Wednesday morning from Judge Luis Garcia.

Wednesday afternoon, lead Detective Terry Smith called the Anzola family with the news of Lopez's arrest.

''We're halfway done,'' German Anzola said. ''Now we have the trial. Me and my family will be there.''