On a Friday night, June 1, 2018, in the small city of Aliceville, Alabama, a sense of unease settled over a residence on Memorial Parkway. Inside, 31-year-old Daniel Perez was fatally shot in the chest. The incident, which occurred between 9:00 and 9:30 p.m., marked the first homicide in Pickens County that year. Perez, who had been living in Aliceville for some time and was employed at a local lumber company, was a male whose life was cut short in what police would later describe as a robbery
gone wrong.
The initial hours of the investigation were shrouded in mystery. Law enforcement was alerted to the shooting after another resident of the home fled to a nearby gas station to call for help. The assailant, whose identity was concealed by a ski mask or hood and long sleeves, had fled the scene. The Aliceville Police Department, along with the Pickens County Sheriff's Office and the 24th Judicial Circuit, launched a joint investigation. In the days following the shooting, authorities appealed to the public for any information, hoping that someone in the vicinity of the busy gas station near Perez's home might have seen or heard something that could lead to a break in the case.
For months, the case remained unsolved, leaving a cloud of uncertainty over the community. Then, on August 23, 2018, a significant development emerged. The Pickens County Sheriff announced the arrests of two suspects in connection with Perez's murder. Tommie Terail Jones, 29, of Aliceville, and Jessica Shari Long, 28, of Sapps, were taken into custody. The pair, who were already incarcerated on unrelated charges, faced a string of serious accusations.
Jones and Long were charged with capital murder during the commission of a burglary, capital murder during the commission of a robbery, and attempted murder. An additional charge of felon in possession of a firearm was also brought against them. Following the charges, both suspects were held without bond on the capital murder counts, while a $100,000 bond was set for the attempted murder charge. The arrests brought a measure of resolution to the investigation, offering the first steps toward justice for Daniel Perez and his family, to whom his body was returned in Mexico.
