A Yolo County jury on Tuesday convicted 63-year-old Paul Allen Perez of murdering five of his infant children in a case that stretched from the 1990s into the early 2000s and haunted investigators for years. The verdict capped a trial built on decades-old physical evidence paired with modern forensic work. Perez is scheduled to be sentenced on April 6 in Yolo County Superior Court, and authorities say each victim was believed to be younger than six months old when they were killed.
Verdicts and Charges
Jurors found Perez guilty on multiple counts of murder and on an assault charge that prosecutors said involved force likely to produce great bodily injury resulting in death, according to CBS Sacramento. The panel also found true a sentencing enhancement for multiple murders, a factor prosecutors say will weigh heavily at sentencing. According to prosecutors, Perez now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
How Investigators Reopened the Cold Case
The case first broke open in 2007, when a fisherman pulled a metal cooler from Conway Slough east of Woodland and discovered a badly decomposed infant inside, wrapped in a blanket and weighted down, investigators said. Authorities preserved DNA from the remains. As reported by KCRA, the coroner determined the child had suffered blunt-force trauma and ruled the death a homicide. Detectives kept the file open as DNA technology improved, holding on to the preserved sample that would later become crucial.
DNA Linked the Slough Discovery to Other Victims
Years later, familial DNA analysis matched that preserved profile to Perez and pointed investigators toward other infants born in Merced and Fresno in the 1990s and in 2001, as noted by CapRadio. Authorities say the victims include children identified by investigators as Kato Allen Perez, Mika Alena Perez, Nikko Lee Perez and Kato Krow Perez, and they note that some of the remains have never been found. Investigators told reporters they believe all of the infants were under six months old when they died.
Prosecutor’s Statement
“These crimes involved pure evil. The defendant should die in prison,” Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig said in a statement, according to CBS Sacramento. The DA’s office said jurors also found true the enhancement for multiple murders, raising the stakes for Perez when he returns to court for sentencing. Defense attorneys declined to comment immediately after the verdict, according to media coverage.
Arrest, Trial and What Comes Next
Perez was arrested in January 2020 at Kern Valley State Prison, where he was serving a separate sentence, just days before he was scheduled for release, reporting by the Los Angeles Times and earlier coverage showed. The DNA work that tied the Conway Slough infant to Perez triggered the murder charges and a long run of pretrial motions, followed by a trial that began late last year. A jury delivered the guilty verdicts on Tuesday. Court records and local reporting indicate Perez is due back in Yolo County Superior Court for sentencing on April 6, 2026, as reported by KCRA.
Legal Stakes and Possible Penalties
The charges included special-circumstance allegations and enhancements that prosecutors described in original filings as reflecting “lying in wait” and torture, and local reporting noted that prosecutors once said Perez would be eligible for the death penalty, as per WFTV. Following the convictions, Perez faces life in prison without the possibility of parole unless prosecutors ultimately secure a death sentence at a later hearing. The district attorney’s office has not yet announced whether it will seek capital punishment in the penalty phase.
What Investigators Still Hope to Find
Investigators say several of the infants’ remains have not been recovered and the probe remains active as the county moves toward sentencing, CapRadio reported. Relatives who appeared in court described a mix of shock and deep grief at the verdict, and the case has renewed attention on cold-case DNA techniques that can connect decades-old evidence to living family members. Authorities continue to ask anyone with information about births or missing infants in the 1990s to contact the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office.
The convictions close a long-running mystery for investigators and some family members, even as they raise new questions about other possible victims and the evolving role of DNA in cold-case work. This story will be updated as new court filings and official statements are released.
