John Jefferson
Inset: Gissell Selene Perez (Diana Barrios). Background: The Ford Mustang and crash scene where the body of Gissell Selene Perez was found (KLAS/YouTube).
A “toxic” boyfriend who terrorized his Las Vegas girlfriend in an “on-again, off-again” relationship since high school allegedly shot and killed the 24-year-old woman while the two of them were driving, according to cops and loved ones. Police say the man then proceeded to drive around with his dead girlfriend for nearly two hours before calling an acquaintance to “meet him in the desert to help him get rid of her body.”
“They will see me on [camera],” Julio Machado Vasquez allegedly told the acquaintance, who called 911 and informed authorities of what happened, according to a police report obtained by local CBS affiliate KLAS.
The caller said Machado Vasquez was allegedly afraid of taking his girlfriend, Gissell Selene Perez, to the hospital after “accidentally” shooting her in the back of the head last Sunday, Jan. 19, while they were riding in Machado Vasquez’s blue Ford Mustang.
After being notified by the caller of what happened, officers with the Las Vegas Metro Police Department found Machado Vasquez driving the Mustang near Sandhill Road and Stewart Avenue. Officers attempted to make a stop but the 24-year-old murder suspect wound up fleeing and crashed into another vehicle at the intersection of East Charleston Boulevard and North Pecos Road, leaving him with injuries that caused him to be hospitalized.
“[Cops] observed a female in the Ford Mustang suffering from an apparent gunshot wound,” LVMPD officials said in a press release. “Medical personnel responded and pronounced the female deceased at the scene.”
While speaking to the 911 caller before the crash, Machado Vasquez told the female acquaintance he was “driving around with [Perez’] body near east Sahara, where the road ends.”
The woman told investigators she received the call from him a little after 7:30 a.m. and that he seemed “panicked” about what happened.
“It was an accident,” Machado Vasquez allegedly told her, according to the police report obtained by KLAS. He claimed that Perez was arguing with him and grabbed a gun he was carrying in the car, which he then snatched back from her and pointed at his own head, per the police report.
“If you’re going to do it, do it right,” he claimed to have told Perez.
Machado Vasquez told the female acquaintance that he had the safety on the handgun and that he was “testing” Perez. He alleged that the weapon then went off randomly.
Police reportedly say Machado Vasquez rode around with Perez’s body for approximately an hour and a half before crashing his Mustang. The acquaintance who called 911 reportedly described Perez and Machado Vasquez’ relationship as being “on-again, off-again” since the two of them were in high school. She said the relationship was “toxic,” as did one of Perez’s friends, Diana Barrios, when speaking to Law&Crime about her death.
“There were times where she’d call me because she was afraid to leave the house,” Barrios said. “He would, like, sit outside her house, just watching her for hours. She would be in her house, watching him on cameras she had from inside her room, terrified.”
Describing Machado Vasquez’ behavior toward Perez when Barrios was with her, the 24-year-old friend told Law&Crime: “He was extremely toxic. She would, like, block him, and he would make new numbers and mess with her, sometimes even threaten her.”
One night back in November, things got so bad that Perez asked Barrios to come pick her up because she was afraid to be alone.
“She was really scared,” Barrios said. “She told me he had a gun and that things were bad between them.”
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People close to Perez, including her family, have confirmed with KLAS and other media outlets that she and Machado Vasquez had a tumultuous relationship, which is reportedly detailed in the police report. The female acquaintance who called 911 told police that Machado Vasquez always carried a firearm on him, per KLAS.
Machado Vasquez is currently being held at the Clark County Detention Center without bail for open murder with a deadly weapon, according to LVMPD officials. He was due in court Wednesday but had to miss due to “medical reasons.”
A GoFundMe has been launched for the Perez family as they deal with her death.
“We had so much fun together,” Barrios told Law&Crime. “I texted her Saturday morning. We were supposed to get sushi and go on a hike. She said to me, ‘I just got my lashes done … I’m not prepared.’ That was the last day we spoke to each other. She had just gotten her lashes done. It’s just so, so sad.”
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