Deputies say surveillance video helped investigators trace Victoria Perez’s final hours before her body was found near a Spring Hill road.
SPRING HILL, Fla. — A 19-year-old man has been charged with first-degree premeditated murder after his 16-year-old girlfriend, Victoria Perez, was reported missing and found dead hours later near a road in Spring Hill, according to the Pasco Sheriff’s Office.
Robert Anthony Timmons was arrested early Monday in connection with Perez’s death, Pasco Sheriff Jeff Harrington said during a news conference. Perez’s family reported her missing at about 7 a.m. Sunday after she had last been seen the previous evening in the Chiloe Street area. Deputies later received a report of a body near Crela Drive and confirmed that the person was Perez.
Investigators said surveillance footage became a key part of reconstructing Perez’s movements. Harrington said video showed Perez getting into a vehicle associated with Timmons at about 1:15 a.m. Sunday. Detectives located Timmons after speaking with Perez’s relatives and others who knew the couple. Family members had raised concerns about the relationship and described it to investigators as troubled, the sheriff said.
According to Harrington, Timmons initially told detectives he knew little about Perez’s whereabouts but later acknowledged picking her up from the apartment complex where she lived with her family. Investigators allege the two argued inside the vehicle. Harrington said Timmons told detectives that he had a gun in his lap during the dispute and that Perez was shot during the encounter. The allegations against Timmons have not been proven in court.
Deputies found Perez’s body about 15 feet from the roadway in the Crela Drive area, not far from the apartment complex. Authorities allege Timmons drove there after the shooting and left Perez’s body before departing. Investigators also believe the firearm was discarded in a nearby body of water. The sheriff’s office said its dive and underwater recovery team was searching for the weapon as detectives continued collecting evidence.
The sheriff’s office was also processing the vehicle investigators linked to Timmons and examining other locations connected to the case. Harrington said detectives were able to connect the missing-person investigation and the death investigation within hours through interviews, surveillance footage and evidence gathered at the scene.
Perez had initially been the subject of a public missing-person alert issued by the sheriff’s office Sunday. Authorities said she had last been seen at about 8 p.m. Saturday in the Chiloe Street area of Spring Hill. Later Sunday morning, deputies responded to the Crela Drive area after receiving a report of a deceased person. Investigators subsequently identified the person as Perez and notified her family.
Harrington said Perez’s relatives had been concerned about her relationship with Timmons and had been trying to support her. Authorities have not publicly released a complete account of the couple’s history, and investigators have not said whether any previous criminal cases involving the two were reported before Perez’s death.
Timmons was booked into the Pasco County Jail on a charge of first-degree premeditated murder and was being held without bond, according to local reporting. The charge is an allegation, and Timmons is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. Information about an attorney representing him was not immediately available in the reports reviewed.
The Pasco Sheriff’s Office said the investigation remains active. Detectives were continuing to gather evidence and search for the firearm authorities believe was connected to Perez’s death. No additional arrests had been announced as of Monday night.