Detectives compared surveillance recordings with later body-camera video to connect a second man to the fatal Prairie Hill attack.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A silver wallet chain, a skull-shaped ring and a dark mark on a man’s hand helped San Antonio detectives identify the second person charged in the killing of Eric Tellez Perez, according to an arrest affidavit describing a video-based investigation.
Police arrested Rene Moreno, 29, in early July, nearly two months after Perez was found dead inside an abandoned home on Prairie Hill. Moreno is accused of entering the house with Victor Sigala, 51, and a third masked person on May 8. Investigators allege that Moreno carried a metal rod, while Sigala carried an aluminum baseball bat. The third person remains publicly unidentified.
The identification described by police depended on comparing recordings made on separate days for separate purposes. The first came from a private security system across the street from the house where Perez died. The second came from an officer’s body-worn camera during an encounter with Moreno on May 26. Detectives said the clothing accessories and mark visible in both recordings supported their conclusion that Moreno was one of the masked figures.
According to the affidavit, the surveillance recording showed a man wearing a large silver chain attached to a wallet. A silver skull ring appeared on his left pinkie, and a dark mark could be seen on his left hand. When investigators reviewed the body-camera footage recorded 18 days later, they reported seeing Moreno with the same type of chain and ring and the same mark. The body-camera encounter occurred about a mile from the homicide scene.
That comparison came after the first defendant had been arrested. Sigala was taken into custody in June and accused of being the man with the bat. Police said he later identified Moreno as another person present during the attack and alleged that Moreno struck Perez. Multiple witnesses also connected Moreno to the incident, according to the affidavit, though public reports did not describe every statement or say whether the witnesses viewed a formal photographic lineup. Investigators had started with far less specific information. At about 1:30 p.m. May 8, officers responded to the 8900 block of Prairie Hill after receiving a report that someone inside a house might have been shot. Perez, 39, was found with a severe injury to the back of his head and pronounced dead at the scene. Police initially believed the wound could have resulted from a gunshot.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office later determined that Perez died from blunt force trauma and ruled the death a homicide. The revised medical finding was consistent with the objects police later said were visible in the exterior surveillance footage. No public account reviewed for this article said a firearm was found or that investigators continued to believe one had been used.
Perez’s presence at the vacant property was connected to cleaning work he had arranged with a prospective buyer, according to a police report. The buyer met Perez two days before the killing and agreed to provide food and money in return for help cleaning the house. Perez also offered to monitor the property. After Perez stopped responding to messages, the buyer returned with two other people and discovered him inside.
A reported altercation across the street opened another path for investigators. A neighbor approached officers at the scene and said he had fought with Perez earlier that day. Police noted injuries to the neighbor’s face. The man was questioned but was not immediately arrested because officers said they did not have sufficient probable cause at that point. Detectives obtained a search warrant for the neighbor’s home and seized the digital video recorder connected to cameras facing the homicide scene. They also found Sigala sleeping in the residence during the search. The publicly available affidavits did not clearly explain Sigala’s reason for being there or whether he was present when the earlier altercation involving the neighbor allegedly occurred.
After specialists processed the video system, detectives said the recording showed three people with masks entering the abandoned house. One held an aluminum bat, another held a metal rod, and the third appeared to enter without a weapon. Authorities have not said that the cameras captured a view inside the house, so the footage described in court records did not directly show the fatal blows.
The recording allegedly revealed Sigala’s identity when he removed his mask after the group left. Detectives said he was visible with the bat as he approached and departed from the property. Police also placed him at the neighboring home, where the recording showed him returning and where officers later found him asleep. That combination allowed investigators to focus first on Sigala even though the other two men remained masked.
Statements from two people who knew Sigala strengthened the application for his arrest, police said. One witness reported that Sigala acknowledged striking Perez with a bat and said Perez was not moving. A longtime acquaintance told detectives that Sigala discussed the attack several days later at Palo Alto Park and believed he had killed Perez. The witnesses’ names were not released in the news reports, and their allegations have not been tested in open court.
Investigators said Sigala’s alleged account assigned roles to the other participants. One person was accused of striking Perez with a rod, while the third allegedly kicked him. That narrative gave police a potential distinction among the figures seen in the security video. The person associated with the rod was later identified as Moreno, according to the affidavit supporting the second arrest.
The case illustrates how ordinary recordings collected for unrelated reasons can become linked during an investigation. The private cameras documented movement around the Prairie Hill house, while the officer’s body camera later provided a clearer view of a person police were trying to identify. Detectives used the visible objects and physical mark as comparative evidence rather than relying solely on a facial image, which was obscured in the original footage.
Those observations are part of the prosecution’s allegations and do not establish guilt on their own. Defense attorneys may challenge the quality of the recordings, the accuracy of the comparison, the witnesses’ reliability or other parts of the investigation. The reviewed reports did not identify counsel for Moreno or Sigala, state whether either had entered a plea or provide a trial schedule.
Sigala was being held on a $250,000 bond following his June arrest. Moreno was booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center after his July arrest. Both face murder charges in Perez’s death and are presumed innocent unless convicted. Police have not publicly named the third masked person or announced whether they believe another arrest is imminent.
Author note: Last updated July 17, 2026.