California Attorney General Rob Bonta commented this week on the conviction of Paul Allen Perez in Yolo County for several counts of murder and one count of assault on a child under eight with force likely to produce great bodily injury resulting in death. The prosecution was managed by the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, while the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Forensic Services (BFS) assisted the investigating agencies.
“With this conviction, justice was served for these horrific crimes,” said Attorney General Bonta. “This case is a powerful example of how innovative scientific techniques provide a voice for victims of crime. I am incredibly proud of the work our Bureau of Forensic Services put into this case, which provided a pathway to justice. I’m also grateful to the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office and all of our law enforcement partners for their dedication to finding justice for these children.”
The case involved the murders of five infants between 1992 and 2001. In 2007, remains of an infant were discovered in Conway Slough near Woodland. Despite regular DNA searches, it was not until 2017 that BFS’s Missing Persons DNA Program and Cal-DNA Data Bank identified Paul Allen Perez as the biological father through a kinship DNA link. This development allowed local investigators to proceed with building a case against Perez.
The California Department of Justice Missing Persons DNA Program (MPDP), established in 2001, provides DNA testing services statewide to address missing persons and unidentified human remains cases. The program works with coroners, medical examiners, and law enforcement agencies across all 58 counties in California to ensure submission and comparison of DNA from unidentified individuals with personal articles from missing persons or samples from their relatives.
The California Attorney General’s office operates as the state’s chief law enforcement authority, overseeing uniform enforcement of laws and safeguarding public rights and safety throughout California. It provides legal representation, criminal investigations, forensic support, consumer protections, civil rights initiatives, and promotes transparency through public data portals such as OpenJustice (official website). The office forms an integral part of the executive branch within state government (official website), led by Rob Bonta (official website) and headquartered in Sacramento (official website). Over its more than 160-year history since being founded in 1850 (official website), it has evolved to protect state resources and lead centralized law enforcement efforts amid California’s growth.
