Paul Perez California father accused of killing five of his infant children over the course of a decade after DNA evidence links body found years ago linked to other siblings killed.
A California father has been charged with killing his five infant children over the course of a decade beginning from 1992 and ending in 2001 in a cold case that ‘haunted’ investigators for years, police said on Monday.
Paul Perez, 57 — who had been serving time at a prison outside Bakersfield, Calif. for unrelated crimes — was arrested on Thursday after detectives made the connection of a dead body from 2007 with its four dead siblings, Yolo County Sheriff Tom Lopez said on Monday- KCRA reports.
‘While I am proud of the efforts of my investigators and coroner’s office, this is not a day that will bring joy to any one of us. In my 40 years in law enforcement, I cannot think of a case more disturbing than this one,’ Lopez said in a statement.
‘There can be no victim more vulnerable and innocent than an infant, and unfortunately this case involves five.’
Ironically, Perez was arrested on the new charges just four days before he was scheduled to be released from Kern Valley State Prison.
‘The allegations we are discussing today are both senseless, evil and heartbreaking,’ said Ed Medrano, chief of law enforcement within the California Department of Justice, according to NBC News.
Five victims in mass murder case in Yolo County.Father is under arrest. pic.twitter.com/GRVG14fQg6
— Mike Luery (@KCRALuery) January 27, 2020
It’s believed baby Nikko Perez was discovered in this body of water in rural Yolo county. His father Paul Perez, has been charged with murdering him and four of his siblings. pic.twitter.com/xbNiJnOf6f
— Mike Luery (@KCRALuery) January 27, 2020
Cold case catches break with new DNA technology:
The cold case began in 2007 when the body of a dead baby was found by a fisherman in a waterway east of Woodland, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Those decomposed remains had been in a sealed container, weighed down in the water by heavy objects.
Officials gathered the infant’s genetic profile and uploaded it into the FBI’s criminal justice DNA database. But for years, no matches ever came and the case went cold.
Using new DNA techniques, police were finally able to get a break in October 2019 when they determined the child was named Nikko Lee Perez, born in Fresno in Nov. 1996, cops said.
Investigators were able to determine baby Nikko had siblings — and each one of them was also presumed to be dead.
Police identified the children as Kato Allen Perez, born in 1992; Mika Alena Perez, born in 1995; a second Nikko Lee Perez, born in 1997 and finally, Kato Krow Perez, born in 2001.
The remains of the last three children have not yet been located. Baby Kato was already known to police to be dead.
‘The allegations announced today are heartbreaking. There is absolutely no place in our society for horrendous crimes against children,’ California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement according to Buzzfeed News.
‘At the California Department of Justice, we will do everything in our power to track down criminals who think they have evaded the grip of justice.’
Paul Perez, 57, a convicted sex offender with a 20-year criminal history, was charged in the deaths of the children born between 1992 and 2001. https://t.co/xhFJxQQvfy
— KOIN News (@KOINNews) January 28, 2020
Convicted sex offender with a 20-year criminal history:
Officials are still in the process of building a complete case against Paul Perez who is facing five counts of first-degree premeditated murder, Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig said.
The prosecutor added Paul Perez is suspected of committing the killings by ‘lying in wait’ and ‘through torture.’
The means and motive behind the babies deaths are yet to be disclosed.
Paul Perez a convicted sex offender with a 20-year criminal history, went to prison on a seven-year sentence for vehicle theft in August 2010, then saw that sentence extended for possessing and manufacturing a deadly weapon while an inmate. Instead of rejoining society on Thursday, the man is now facing murder indictments against him. If convicted, Perez could face the death penalty.
‘We’re here because as seen in other cases around the nation, the science and power of DNA has shown that monsters and killers cannot hide forever any longer,’ Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig said.
Not immediately understood is what compelled Paul Perez California father to kill each of his five babies, whether the man had other infant children alive- and who he had also tried to kill along with the identity of the children(s) mother and whether they had come forward.
Officials declined to say whether Perez has other children or family members, or whether all the babies in the case have the same mother.
