Perez was last seen in Bexar County, Texas on July 2, 1993. He left to go to a party with a friend, Jack Lee King, that evening. King later told Perez's cousin that they'd stopped at an Exxon gas station at Interstate 35 south and Southcross Boulevard, and Perez left with some girls driving a silver car.

The party King and Perez attended lasted until the early morning hours of July 3. According to witnesses, Perez got drunk and became disruptive. He got into the passenger side of King's car while King was absent. When King returned, he shot Perez at close range, got into the car and drove away. Many people witnessed the shooting, but no one called the police. It wasn't until 1996 that anyone told the story to the police.

King was indicted for Perez's murder in 2008. At the time, he was already awaiting trial for the double murder of Ray Wechsler and Rosendo Torres Jr. in 1995. At his 2009 trial in Perez's case, King testified in his own defense and said Perez was alive and well when they left the party together and he last saw him at the Exxon station. Other guests at the party testified to witnessing the murder. King was convicted in Perez's death in November 2009 and sentenced to 60 years in prison. He will have to serve a quarter of his sentence, 15 years, before becoming eligible for parole. Prosecutors still plan to try him for the 1995 murders.

Perez's body has never been located.