A man in Colorado has been accused of killing the mother of his children, moving her body in a shopping cart for days before discarding her remains in a trash bin. The 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Colorado has filed charges against Thomas Perales, 38, including first-degree murder, tampering with a deceased human body, habitual domestic violence, and violating protection orders.
On December 4, the Westminster Police Department disclosed an investigation into a suspicious death near Willowbrook Park in Westminster, north of Denver. The victim, identified as 37-year-old Annette Valdez, is being treated as a homicide case. Valdez’s body was found in a park trash bin, with reports suggesting she had been deceased for about six days before discovery. Perales, Valdez’s former partner and the father of her children, was apprehended on December 5 as the last person seen with her.
Following Perales’ arrest, it was revealed that he had allegedly confessed to killing Valdez and moving her body around in a shopping cart before abandoning it near a creek. The cause of Valdez’s death remains unknown, but her brother, Adam Larson, disclosed her history of enduring domestic abuse.
Larson shared that despite efforts to separate Valdez from Perales, she repeatedly returned to him due to their children. Authorities were alerted to the domestic violence situation when Valdez contacted her mother after noticing Perales near her residence through a Ring camera. The family expressed disappointment in the system for failing to prevent Valdez’s tragic death.
Valdez’s loved ones have set up a GoFundMe page in her memory, describing her as a cherished daughter, sister, mother, and friend who was lost too soon to domestic violence.