In the fall of 2013, a young woman's life was tragically cut short in what authorities described as an act of domestic violence. Sandra Azucena Perez, a 21-year-old female, was shot on the evening of Sunday, October 6, 2013, in Phoenix, Arizona. Despite being rushed to a local hospital, she succumbed to her injuries and passed away in the early morning hours. At the time of her death, Perez was a new mother to a 2-month-old child.
The primary suspect in the shooting was identified as her 23-year-old husband, Ismael Perez-Barraza. According to police reports, the shooting occurred near 75th Avenue and Indian School Road. Immediately following the incident, Perez-Barraza fled the scene in a green Nissan Titan pickup truck. Family members later revealed that Sandra had been in an abusive relationship and had shown signs of physical abuse, though she had reportedly refused offers of help, wanting to make her marriage work.
For five years, Ismael Perez-Barraza remained a fugitive, believed to have fled to Mexico. A nationwide alert was issued for his arrest. In April 2018, the U.S. Marshals Service announced that Perez-Barraza, then 28 years old, had been apprehended in Culiacan, in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. He was subsequently deported back to the United States to face charges for the murder of his wife, bringing a long-awaited step towards justice for Sandra Perez and her family.
