Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens issued the following statement.
Hinds County District Attorney Jody E. Owens, II, announced today that 33- year-old Marcos Uriel Lara Perez has been found guilty on two counts of Second-Degree Murder for a deadly arson that claimed the lives of two of his roommates. On April 9, 2023, Perez, intentionally set fire to the residence he shared with other tenants at 746 Gary Drive following a physical altercation. During the attack, Perez doused multiple victims with gasoline and ignited a BIC lighter, causing the structure to become fully engulfed in flames. Officers with the Byram Police Department responded to reports of a residential fire and arrived to find the home ablaze. Byram Fire Department and AMR personnel treated several victims suffering from severe burn injuries and transported them to the hospital. Fire personnel conducted a search and discovered the remains of 77-year-old Filibert Torres in the south portion of the home.
Surviving victims at the hospital informed detectives that the fire was not accidental and had been deliberately set by Perez. Two days later, on April 11, 2023, authorities were notified that a second victim, 45-year-old Jose Thomas Segura Juarez, had succumbed to his injuries. A week before trial, Perez pled guilty to both counts of Second-Degree Murder for the deaths of Torres and Juarez. He was sentenced to a total of 80 years, with 20 years suspended, resulting in 60 years to serve in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. “This crime was especially heinous and senseless. These people were burned alive in their own home,” said District Attorney Owens. “We thank the Byram Police and Fire Departments and medical responders for their swift response and thorough work on this case.
3 comments:
I regret being of the same species as this savage killer, and question if he was an illegal, his status was seemingly not disclosed in my quick reading of the story.
Looks like someone should have offered to contribute to the piggy bank in Owens' office.
Legislation is needed which would require any Mississippi prosecutor that has been indicted for a felony to step down during the pendency of the criminal proceedings. It is a travesty that DA Owens is still in the DA office.
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