Maria Perez
Age 14
Katy, Texas
He left her a soccer ball
Her boyfriend brought a toy soccer ball to her house, joining other teens who brought flowers and cards. He said soccer was her favorite sport, and that she dreamed of being a model.
The home was nestled in Katy, Texas, a prairie-turned-residential town once known as Cane Island after the creek that ran through it – a place where buffalo herds and whooping crane flocks feed in the winter.
That Sunday afternoon, teenagers gathered at the Perez home in Katy to honor Maria Perez, 14, and her sister, who were shot and killed in a murder-suicide by their stepfather on Nov. 4, 2018.
