Jurors say Paul Allen Perez killed his children between 1992 and 2001; sentencing is set for April 6.
WOODLAND, Calif. — A Yolo County jury on Tuesday found Paul Allen Perez guilty of multiple counts of murder for the deaths of five infants, a case built on preserved evidence from a slough east of Woodland and DNA work that linked the victims to the same father years after their births.
The outcome marks a rare convergence of genealogy-driven forensics and a multi-county probe that reassembled records from the 1990s and early 2000s. Prosecutors said Perez’s children died before reaching six months old in separate incidents in Merced, Fresno and Yolo counties. Jurors also convicted him of assault on a child under eight causing death and found a multiple-murder enhancement true. Perez, 63, faces life without parole at a hearing scheduled for April 6. Officials said some remains were never recovered, but the court accepted a set of records and lab findings as proof the deaths occurred.
The case’s public chapter began March 29, 2007, when fishermen pulled a weighted cooler from Conway Slough and found the body of a baby later identified as 1-month-old Nikko Lee Perez, born in 1996 in Fresno. Technicians preserved DNA that, years later, enabled genealogical analysis and a match to Perez. That discovery, investigators said, led to additional records checks and the identification of four other infants: Kato Allen Perez, born in Merced in 1992; Mika Alena Perez, born in Merced in 1995; another infant also named Nikko Lee Perez, born in Fresno in 1997; and Kato Krow Perez, born in Fresno in 2001. Deputies arrested Perez in January 2020, just days before he was due to be released from state prison on an unrelated conviction.
In court, prosecutors described Perez as transient across Central California and presented a timeline tying births, addresses and movements to spans when the infants disappeared. Officials said the investigation drew on vital records, witness interviews and follow-up searches in areas where the family once lived. “In my 40 years in law enforcement, I cannot think of a case more disturbing than this one,” Sheriff Tom Lopez said previously as the cold case reopened. After Tuesday’s verdict, District Attorney Jeff Reisig called the crimes “pure evil” and said the outcome recognizes five lives that had long gone unnamed in public.
The verdict closes a trial phase but leaves open questions, including where some of the infants are buried and how many scenes will remain active for recovery efforts. Prosecutors said motive remains unknown. The district attorney’s office said it would coordinate with Fresno and Merced authorities on any additional searches informed by new tips. The court clerk set April 6 for sentencing and reserved time for statements from victim advocates or relatives who choose to speak. Because jurors found the multiple-murder enhancement true, Perez’s punishment must include life without the possibility of parole under state law.
On Wednesday, courthouse hallways were quiet, with a few residents from Woodland and nearby towns describing mixed feelings—relief at a verdict and grief at the facts. “This case haunted the county,” said a retired marina worker who fishes the Delta sloughs. “You don’t forget something like that.” A local advocate said the trial forced a community to revisit the era before widespread DNA tools. “What solved this was the evidence kept and the science catching up,” the advocate said.
Perez remains in custody awaiting sentencing. The next scheduled milestone is the April 6 hearing in Yolo County Superior Court.
Author note: Last updated January 7, 2026.