Inset left: Thomas Perales (Westminster Police Department). Inset right: Annette Valdez (GoFundMe). Background: The scene of the Westminster police officers investigating a “suspicious” death near Willowbrook Park in Colorado (Westminster Police Department).
In a shocking case in Colorado, a man has been accused of murdering the mother of his children and transporting her body in a shopping cart for several days before discarding it in a trash can, according to authorities.
Thomas Perales, aged 38, is facing charges of first-degree murder, tampering with a deceased body, habitual domestic violence, and two counts of violating a protection order, as announced by the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Colorado. More details on the charges can be found here.
The Westminster Police Department began investigating a “suspicious” death on December 4 near Willowbrook Park in Westminster, a suburb north of Denver. The victim was identified as 37-year-old Annette Valdez, and her death is being treated as a homicide, as reported by the police on their Twitter account.
Valdez’s remains were discovered in a garbage can at the park, as covered by local news outlets like CBS affiliate KMVT. It is believed that she had been deceased for up to six days before her body was found.
Authorities apprehended Perales on December 5. He was reportedly the last individual seen with Valdez. Perales was her former partner and the father of her children.
Perales, who was reportedly homeless, allegedly transported Valdez’s body in a shopping cart between locations. He allegedly confessed to a witness that he left her near a creek, which led to the discovery of her body. Upon arrest, Perales admitted to killing Valdez and “parading her around,” according to police reports.
It is unclear what the victim’s cause of death was.
Adam Larson, Valdez’s brother, indicated his sister was the victim of years of domestic abuse.
“We tried so much to get her away from him, and every single time she went right back to him,” he told KMVT. “All she could say is, ‘That’s my kid’s father.’”
“I had a feeling it was him,” Larson added.
The most recent investigation into domestic violence occurred after Valdez called her mother as she looked at Perales through a Ring camera, according to authorities. The defendant was reportedly trying to break into her apartment, damaging the door, and rubbing paint on the camera.
Perales had just been released from jail on Nov. 21, and Valdez’s family saw her death as preventable and a result of the system failing.
“She didn’t have the resources that she needed to be able to feel that safety,” Analisa Larson, Adam Larson’s wife, told area Fox affiliate KDVR. “I think they hand you a piece of paper and say, ‘here is a protection order’ … well what do you do with that when he keeps coming back?”
Valdez is remembered in a GoFundMe as having been “a beloved daughter, sister, mother, and friend, taken from us far too soon due to domestic violence.”
“Our family is devastated beyond words, struggling to come to terms with this unimaginable tragedy,” the fundraiser goes on. “Annette was a light in our lives—her kindness, laughter, and love touched everyone who knew her.”
