A man who gunned down two young men and wounded a teenage girl at a crowded Magna house party in 2021 was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison, after a judge called the killings horrendous and senseless. Patrocinio Perez pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the August 15, 2021 shooting, and a Third District judge ordered his sentences to run consecutively rather than concurrently.
Judge Heather Brereton sentenced Perez to 15 years to life for each of two aggravated murder counts, plus five years to life for each of three first-degree felony firearm-discharge counts, and ordered all five sentences to run consecutively, according to KSL News. Prosecutors had agreed to recommend 15 years to life on the aggravated murder counts instead of the 25 years to life they could have sought, in exchange for Perez's guilty plea. Deputy county attorney Vincent Meister told the court the consecutive terms were warranted because there were multiple victims, and he described the shooting as an ambush of both men rather than self-defense.
Killed in the attack were 19-year-old Juan Valentine Rodriguez and 18-year-old Ivan Valenzuela. Meister told the court that Perez crawled up the stairs, shot Rodriguez at close range without warning, and shot Valenzuela in the back of the head within seconds. A 17-year-old girl, Autumn Baker, was struck by a bullet fired at Rodriguez and has since struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder, including trouble sleeping and dealing with loud noises, per the same report.
A Case That Once Carried the Death Penalty
The party where the shooting happened drew between 30 and 50 teenagers and young adults, according to charging documents cited by KSL. Responding officers found fleeing crowds and two young men fatally wounded inside a home on Evening Light Cove. Perez told law enforcement he believed the men were talking negatively about his associates, and prosecutors said he mistook a haircut associated with a rival gang for the victims' appearance — though neither Rodriguez nor Valenzuela actually had that haircut.
Salt Lake County prosecutors filed a formal notice in July 2023 to seek the death penalty against Perez, then amended his murder charges to capital offenses that September. Those potential penalties were eliminated when the 2026 plea deal was reached. As part of that agreement, charges of obstruction of justice and possession of a weapon as a restricted person were dismissed, along with all charges in two other cases filed against Perez.
A Violent Pattern Before and After the Killings
Investigators say the Magna shooting was not an isolated act. Two days earlier, on August 13, 2021, Perez was accused of firing eight rounds into a Hyundai near 8700 South and 300 East in Sandy after mistaking the occupants for rival gang members; shell casings from that scene matched those recovered at the Magna party, and a passenger in the front seat suffered a bullet abrasion to her thigh. Investigators designated Perez a gang shot caller who bragged about the killings on Instagram and Snapchat, and detectives combined those social media admissions with Uber location data to place him near the scene.
Perez was arrested just under one month after the killings, but not before he was involved in additional shootings, including an incident at Salt Lake City's Liberty Park weeks later that led to a federal weapons indictment and his continuous jail detention since September 12, 2021. In December 2022, he was charged with obstruction of justice after allegedly shooting up the Sandy home of a key witness in a West Jordan murder investigation whom he had previously pistol-whipped and threatened; recorded jail phone calls reportedly captured Perez referring to the shooting as doing drills. Perez also bragged on social media about doing drills, upgrading his belt, and possessing what he described as ultra-lethal ammunition.
Perez had already been on probation when the killings happened. He was placed on three years of probation in January 2021 after pleading guilty to failing to stop for police, and while jailed that June, he allegedly assaulted a rival gang member inmate.
Judge, Attorney and Advocate React
Brereton told Perez during sentencing that he put many people at risk and caused young children to watch their friends die, calling the killings horrendous and senseless. She also called the plea deal itself a gift, before following its recommended sentence. Perez apologized to the victims' families in court and said he takes responsibility for his actions.
Rudy Bautista, an advocate who spoke on Perez's behalf, said Perez realized the stupidity of his ways and now values life. Meister, for his part, maintained that the shooting was not self-defense and reiterated to the court that Perez ambushed both victims without warning.
How Long Perez Actually Serves Remains Open
Utah law generally caps consecutive indeterminate prison terms at an aggregate maximum of 30 years, but that cap does not apply to convictions carrying potential life sentences, according to Utah statute. That exemption is what allowed Brereton to stack Perez's life-eligible sentences consecutively. Because Utah uses an indeterminate sentencing scheme, the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole ultimately holds the authority to decide when, if ever, Perez is released beyond that 30-year floor.
The Magna shooting happened during a particularly violent stretch for Salt Lake County and the state overall. Utah recorded 95 homicides in 2021, the second-highest annual total in state history behind 2020's record of 103, according to KSL News. Around the same period, Unified Police Department leadership told the Magna Metro Township Council in November 2022 that gang activity and the recruitment of young children were escalating in the community, prompting requests for expanded outreach and youth service grants.
Hoodline has previously reported on gang shootings tied to Magna residents, including a June case in which a Magna woman was charged with obstructing a separate West Valley drive-by murder investigation. Perez's sentencing closes out one of the county's longest-running gang violence prosecutions, even as the community continues grappling with the aftermath of that August 2021 night.
