A medical finding and video recovered across the street redirected the investigation into Eric Tellez Perez’s death.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The investigation began with a report of a possible shooting inside a South Side house, but a medical examination, surveillance video and months of detective work eventually led authorities to allege that three masked men entered the property and fatally beat Eric Tellez Perez.
Perez, 39, was found dead May 8 in the 8900 block of Prairie Hill. Police later arrested Victor Sigala, 51, and Rene Moreno, 29, on murder charges. Court documents accuse Sigala of carrying an aluminum baseball bat and Moreno of carrying a metal rod as they entered the house with a third person. That third participant had not been publicly identified in the latest available reports.
The first description of the case was substantially different from the account that emerged later. Officers were sent to the property at about 1:30 p.m. after a caller said someone inside might have been shot. Police found Perez on the floor with a severe injury to the back of his head. Emergency personnel pronounced him dead there, and officers initially treated the injury as an apparent gunshot wound.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office later concluded that Perez had died from a blunt force injury to the head, not a gunshot. His death was classified as a homicide. That determination established the manner and general cause of death, but it did not by itself identify who was responsible. The case would instead turn on evidence found outside the house and statements detectives said were made after the killing.
Perez had been at the property because of an informal work arrangement, according to a police report cited by local news organizations. A person interested in buying the home met Perez on May 6, two days before his death. Perez asked for work, and the buyer agreed to compensate him with food and money for cleaning the property. Perez also offered to keep watch over the house while the buyer was away. The buyer later tried to contact Perez but received no answer. Upon returning to the property with two other people May 8, the buyer found Perez lying inside amid blood on the floor. The buyer alerted the original homeowner and police were contacted. That discovery placed investigators at a house described in court records as abandoned or vacant, with limited information about who had been using it before Perez’s death.
At the scene, detectives learned of a reported dispute that morning. A man who lived across the street approached officers and said he had been involved in a fight with Perez. Police saw injuries on the man’s face, and other people told investigators they had heard about a scuffle. Officers questioned the neighbor but said they initially lacked sufficient probable cause to arrest him.
The neighbor’s residence nevertheless became important for another reason. Detectives obtained a warrant to search it and recovered a digital recorder attached to cameras that faced the Prairie Hill house. Sigala was found sleeping in the neighbor’s residence when officers executed the warrant, according to an arrest affidavit. The available reports did not establish whether Sigala lived there or explain his connection to the neighbor.
Five days after Perez’s death, the Police Department’s Digital Forensics Unit gave a detective video extracted from the recorder. Authorities said it showed three masked men approaching and entering the house where Perez was later found. Investigators described one person as carrying an aluminum bat, a second as carrying a metal rod and a third as apparently having no weapon in his hands.
The recording did not need to capture the interior assault to advance the case. Police said the video showed one member of the group removing his mask as the men left. Investigators identified that person as Sigala and said he was recorded arriving and departing with the bat. The footage also showed his return to the neighboring residence, linking his movements before and after the alleged attack.
Detectives then received accounts from people who knew Sigala. One person, described as a close friend, said Sigala spoke about striking Perez and indicated that Perez was not moving afterward. Another witness said Sigala discussed the killing at Palo Alto Park several days later. That witness told police Sigala admitted delivering the first blow and said he believed Perez had died. The witnesses’ statements were allegations reported in court documents, not testimony tested at trial. Police said one account also described the roles of two other people: one allegedly struck Perez with a metal rod, while another kicked him. Those details generally matched the objects and number of people detectives said they saw in the exterior surveillance recording.
Sigala was arrested in June and held on a $250,000 bond. After his arrest, investigators said he identified Moreno as the person who accompanied him with the metal rod. Detectives did not rely only on that accusation. They examined police body-camera footage from a separate encounter on May 26 that showed Moreno about a mile from the Prairie Hill house.
The arrest affidavit for Moreno described several details that detectives believed matched the masked figure in the surveillance recording. Those features included a large silver wallet chain, a large silver skull ring worn on the left pinkie and a distinctive dark mark on the left hand. Investigators said Moreno appeared with the same items and physical mark in the body-camera footage. Other witnesses also identified him, according to the affidavit.
Moreno was taken into custody July 4 and booked into the Bexar County jail the next day on a murder charge. His arrest shifted the case from an investigation focused on one identified defendant to a prosecution involving two accused participants. Public reports did not specify whether a grand jury had returned indictments, whether either man had entered a plea or when their next court hearings would take place.
Important questions remain unanswered. Authorities have not publicly described a motive, explained the full nature of the earlier dispute involving Perez or identified the third person allegedly present. The affidavits also do not establish what occurred inside the house minute by minute. Those issues may be addressed through additional investigative work, future court filings or testimony if the cases proceed to trial.
For now, Sigala and Moreno face murder accusations based on a combination of medical findings, video, witness statements and comparative identification evidence. Both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. San Antonio police have not announced an arrest of the third person shown in the footage, leaving one part of the investigation unresolved more than two months after Perez was killed.
Author note: Last updated July 17, 2026.