By MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ
Managing Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com
Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio reported Wednesday the possible discovery of the murder weapon in the Sonia Perez homicide.
According to Lucio, investigators on Tuesday interviewed a witness who stated that on the day of Sonia Perez’s murder, March 31, 37-year-old Daniel Flores Lopez, the man accused of being paid to shoot and kill the victim, allegedly gave a .357 caliber handgun to an unidentified person to hold.
“The investigators corroborated this statement through other witnesses, and when they contacted this person that supposedly had the weapon, he cooperated with the investigators,” Lucio said. “That weapon has been sent for analysis and investigation continues.”
Lopez is specifically accused of obtaining a copy of a key to Sonia Perez’s Chevrolet Astro van, allowing him to gain access to her vehicle. Sonia Perez’s body was found with one gunshot wound to her head and another to her right abdomen; she was discovered slumped over the steering wheel of her van which was parked on Robles Road somewhere between San Benito and Rio Hondo. It is believed the victim was forced to drive to the said location at gunpoint, allegedly by Lopez.
Such information culminates breaks in the investigation, many of which were first reported by the San Benito News via www.sbnewspaper.com and include the arrest of Sonia Perez’s husband, 40-year-old Julio Cesar Perez for allegedly paying at least $1,300 to Lopez and two other suspects for organizing the murder. Deputy Sheriff Gus Reyna has reported that the motive in the crime was to reap the benefits of Sonia Perez’s life insurance, the amount of which has yet to be verified.
Others arrested include 19-year-old Brownsville resident Gabriel Apolinar Escalante, accused of being the “middle man” in the case, and 39-year-old Alfredo Castañeda, who investigators believe may have allegedly picked up Lopez following the shooting.
Sonia Perez was a first year third grade teacher for Rio Hondo Intermediate at the time of her death and the 2008-2009 Teacher of the Year for Judge Oscar De La Fuente Elementary. She was employed with San Benito CISD for nine years beginning 2001 and ending in 2010. Sonia Perez left behind two teenage daughters who attend San Benito schools.
For more on this story, pick up a copy of the April 10 edition of the San Benito News.
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