Overview
- A jury on Jan. 6 found Paul Allen Perez guilty of four murders and one count of assault on a child under 8 resulting in death.
- Investigators say the killings occurred between 1992 and 2001 across central and northern California, with all victims under six months old.
- The case advanced after a fisherman in 2007 discovered an infant’s remains in a weighted cooler in Conway Slough near Woodland, and a coroner cited blunt force trauma.
- Familial DNA analysis in 2019 identified the infant as Nikko Lee Perez and linked the case to four deceased siblings.
- The children’s mother, Yolanda Perez, pleaded guilty to five counts of child endangerment in exchange for testimony, and only two of the five children’s remains have been recovered.