Authorities found Nixon Giovanni Pérez Paz, 43, and his wife Glendy Marisol González de la Cruz, 25, bound and fatally shot in a sugarcane field near Retalhuleu, Guatemala, with their 1-year-old daughter alive beside them. The couple had reunited after Pérez Paz was deported by ICE following an arrest in Missouri last year. Guatemalan prosecutors recovered shell casings, a shoe and a motorcycle at the scene; the three older daughters are now with relatives while the investigation continues.
Guatemalan Couple Found Bound and Fatally Shot After Husband's Deportation; Infant Found Alive
Nixon Giovanni Pérez Paz and Glendy Marisol GonzálezCredit: Courtesy of Pérez Paz Family
A married couple who had reunited in Guatemala weeks after the husband was deported from the United States were discovered bound and fatally shot in a sugarcane field outside Retalhuleu in southwestern Guatemala. Their 1-year-old daughter was found alive beside the bodies, Guatemalan authorities and Reuters reported.
Glendy Marisol González and her childrenCredit: Gofundme
Guatemalan police identified the victims as 43-year-old Nixon Giovanni Pérez Paz and his 25-year-old wife, Glendy Marisol González de la Cruz, who most recently lived in Overland, Missouri. Authorities said both victims had their hands tied behind their backs; Pérez Paz appeared to have sustained a gunshot wound to the neck and González de la Cruz a wound to the head. Investigators recovered shell casings, a shoe and a motorcycle at the scene, according to the Public Ministry and Reuters.
Nixon Giovanni Pérez Paz and Glendy Marisol González found deadCredit: Guatemala National Civil Police
Guatemala's Public Ministry said the couple's three daughters have been placed in the care of extended family members while prosecutors continue their inquiry. No suspect or motive has been publicly announced.
Local reporting and family statements indicate Pérez Paz was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Missouri last year and subsequently deported. According to St. Louis Public Radio, Pérez Paz and his brother were stopped by ICE while driving to work; an ICE spokesperson told the outlet agents arrested Pérez Paz because he was unlawfully present in the United States. After his deportation, González de la Cruz initially remained in Missouri with the children before returning to Guatemala to reunite with her husband.
"I felt that they took the thing I wanted most," Rolando Pérez Paz told St. Louis Public Radio. "I felt a huge pain because it was my brother, my sister-in-law — people that wanted to work, to fight."
Overland Mayor Marty Little told local reporters the city was not notified before, during or after the ICE operation that led to Pérez Paz's arrest and warned that unannounced federal immigration actions can raise public-safety concerns.
A candlelight vigil to honor Nixon Pérez Paz and Glendy González de la Cruz is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Aug. 2 outside Overland City Hall, according to St. Louis Public Radio. Prosecutors in Guatemala continue to investigate the killings; reporting in this account cites Reuters, St. Louis Public Radio and People.
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