Family speaks out after five-year-old Wichita Falls murder case leads to arrest

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - For five years, Johnny Perez’s family was left with questions and no answers.

On Wednesday, the Wichita Falls Police Department announced the arrest of Daniel Sauceda for Perez’s murder. The arrest stems from a July 2021 shooting that claimed the life of the 22-year-old.

For his mother, Rose Gelacio, the case never really went away.

“There was no leads, no answers,” Gelacio said. “We had so many questions and just, five years of just wondering in our mind, just going, us doing our own little investigations within each other and the family. It was really hard, it was tough.”

Gelacio said the family spent years trying to piece together what happened while waiting for someone to be held responsible.

For Jacob Perez, losing his older brother left a void that hasn’t gone away.

“It’s been hard,” Jacob said. “I looked up to him like he was everything to me. And it was all just taken away so quick.”

During the five years without an arrest, family members banded together and spoke publicly to keep Johnny’s case from being forgotten.

“Because cold cases like these need to get solved faster than they do,” Jacob said.

Gelacio said her son never got the chance to live the life he had planned.

“Johnny had his whole life ahead of him,” Gelacio said. “I mean, he was only 22 years old. He never got to be a father. That’s something that he, you know, wanted to do. He had his whole life ahead of him. And he didn’t deserve that. No one deserves that.”

Gelacio said a new generation of their family will grow up knowing Johnny’s name and keeping his memory alive.

“I had another baby. He’s almost four, so Johnny never got to meet him, but he knows all about his big brother and I’ll make sure that he always knows who Johnny was and who Johnny is.”

Jacob said the arrest is only the beginning, as the family now faces a long legal process and hopes to find some closure.