Man charged with killing grandfather tried taping up mom, talked in ‘satanic voice,’ records say
A man charged with killing his 80-year-old grandfather at their Frederickson home is believed to have mental health issues, according to court documents.
Pierce County prosecutors on Wednesday charged Antonio Ray Perez, 27, with first-degree murder, second-degree murder and unlawful imprisonment. Perez pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail.
His grandfather’s name has not been publicly released. Authorities say it appeared he suffered blunt force trauma to the head. Perez allegedly told detectives he choked his grandfather Tuesday.
Perez’s mother was also in the house at the time but was not seriously injured. She ran to a neighbor’s house for help.
Charging papers give this account of the homicide:
Perez and his mother moved into his grandfather’s home on 50th Avenue Court East about four years ago.
Perez suffers from a congenital disorder and refused to take his medication, insisting that his family tricked him into believing he has the disease, records say.
His mother told deputies Perez had become increasingly hostile and delusional over the last few years, and deputies had come to their home the night before the homicide because of his delusions.
When she awoke at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, she went looking for her father but could not find him. She was standing in the doorway of her bedroom when Perez allegedly tackled her and told her not to make him kill her.
“He then said he was going to tape her up and ‘give her a second chance at life,’” prosecutors wrote in charging papers. “He was also telling her that the FBI and CIA were after her and that they had asked him to tie her up for them. (The woman) said that her son then began talking in a ‘satanic voice’ and told her he was god.”
Perez struggled to tape her up but eventually agreed to let her smoke a cigarette before imprisoning her. That’s when she ran next door and asked a neighbor to call 911.
Deputies responded to the home and used a loud speaker system to order Perez out of the home. He came out with hands in the air and was arrested.
His grandfather was found lying on the kitchen floor. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The detective who took Perez into custody said he “presented as calm and articulate, but paranoid,” records say.
Perez allegedly talked about receiving death threats, being poisoned and his family hiring someone to kill him.
He told detectives he punched his grandfather in the face and knocked him down. His grandfather struck his head on the refrigerator when he fell. Perez then allegedly forced the older man to his feet and put him in a chokehold until he stopped moving.
Perez “said he was acting in self-defense, and had acted before the victim was able to hurt him,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
