Riverside, Ca- On Thursday June 23, 2005 the Riverside County Grand Jury issued and indictment for 23 year-old Tony Lee Reynolds of Riverside. He is suspected of killing Estela Perez and her unborn child on March 31, 2005.

On Thursday, March 31, 2005 at approximately 8:00 A.M. Estela Perez took her 9-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter to school. She spoke with her sister and arranged to meet and go for a walk following her return from the school. They were to meet at 2841 Fairmount Blvd. in Riverside where Perez lived with her husband Miguel and their children. When the sister arrived, she honked her car horn at the curb but got no response. She honked again and phoned the house but the line was busy. She saw a White male adult walking down the driveway from the house. He gestured toward the house and walked south on Fairmount away from the house. The sister entered the house to look for Perez and found her deceased in a bedroom. She died of multiple stabbing wounds. She was five months pregnant at the time and the unborn baby girl, named Michelle, was also killed.

Riverside Police Detectives began an extensive investigation. During that time, Detectives canvassed the neighborhood and distributed fliers describing the suspect. They followed up numerous telephone and written leads that came into the police department. Patrol officers stopped and identified many people who matched the description of the suspect but none of them were connected to the murder.

Six weeks later a significant break in the case occurred.

On May 9, 2005, at approximately 10:54 am, a White male knocked on the door of a residence in the 5700 block of Brockton Avenue. When the female resident answered, he asked for street directions and left. At the same time, the resident noticed a car driving slowly in front of the house. The driver of that car stopped and warned the resident that the male had been secretly watching the house from a concealed location across the street. He left the area on a bicycle. The resident called the police but they were not able to locate the male in the area.



On May 12, 2005, at approximately 10-10:30 A.M. a male subject came to the same house and began looking in the windows. He ran away when a neighbor walked out of her house.

On May 12, 2005, at approximately 10:30 A.M. a White male knocked on the door of a residence in the 4300 block of Bandini Avenue. This residence is approximately two blocks from the Brockton Avenue location where the two prior incidents occurred. The male asked the female resident for street directions and then forced his way into the house. He sexually assaulted her at knifepoint and then left the house. The victim called the police and reported what happened. Riverside Police Detective Derwin Hudson was nearby and heard the radio broadcast of the suspect’s description. Detective Hudson spotted the suspect and stopped him. The victim positively identified Reynolds as the man who assaulted her.

At the time of his arrest, he was in possession of property that was stolen during a residential burglary that occurred on May 3, 2005, in the 3900 block of Rosewood Drive. He was later identified as the person who came to the Brockton Avenue residence on May 9th and earlier in the day on May 12th.

Homicide Detectives Jim Brandt and Mike Medici immediately recognized the similarities between the Fairmount homicide and the assault on Bandini. They began an investigation of Reynolds to determine his whereabouts at the time of the homicide.

The investigators submitted a sample of Reynolds’ DNA to the California Department of Justice and requested a comparison with evidence collected from Estela Perez. The DNA samples matched.

Reynolds was arraigned in Riverside Superior Court on Friday June 24, 2005 for charges related to the murder and sexual assault.
 

His charges include: 187 P.C. Murder (2-Counts) 289 P.C. Rape with a Foreign Object 459 P.C. Burglary (4-Counts) 664/459 P.C. Attempted Burglary (2-Counts) 288a. P.C. Oral Copulation by Force) 243.4 P.C. Sexual Battery 209 (b) P.C. Kidnapping to Commit Sexual Assault

Reynolds has an extensive criminal history dating back to his teenage years in the State of Illinois. His prior offenses include Burglary, Aggravated Battery, Indecent Exposure, Vandalism, Theft, and Domestic Assault on his father.

In Illinois, in August 1999, Reynolds used a knife to attack and slash another resident of his group home after the resident made comments Reynolds found offensive. The victim required more than sixty stitches for a facial injury.


He is currently on parole for a 2003 burglary that occurred in the 3800 block of Third Street in Riverside. During the burglary, Reynolds was in the process of taking items from inside of the victim’s house when a 4-year-old child entered the home and caught him hiding in the shower. The child alerted her father who then confronted Reynolds. Reynolds armed himself with a BB rifle and brandished it at the father. When the father recognized the rifle as his own, he disarmed Reynolds and struck him in the head with it. He detained Reynolds until the police arrived.

Reynolds is a Registered Sex Offender in the State of California for offenses committed while in prison. He lived in a transitional living home for people recently released from prison and who are on parole. The residence is located in the 6100 block of Antioch Street and is subsidized by the State of California.

Anyone with information related to these investigations is urged to contact Detective Jim Brandt at 951-320-8027 or Detective Mike Medici at 951-320-8049.