SALT LAKE COUNTY, UT – A 24-year-old man behind a fatal house party shooting in Magna, Utah, which claimed the lives of two teens and injured another back in 2021, learned his fate in court earlier in August, where the sentencing judge referred to the plea deal resulting in 45 years to life as a “gift” to the defendant.
Local reports at the time of the incident noted Unified Police officers responded to a Magna residence near 3600 South and 8600 West at approximately 1:00 a.m. on August 15, 2021, regarding reports of three people shot during a house party. The victims were later identified as a juvenile female with a non-fatal gunshot wound and two males, 19-year-old Juan Valentine Rodriguez and 18-year-old Ivan Valenzuela, who both suffered fatal gunshot wounds.
During the course of the investigation, police focused on a then-19-year-old Patrocinio Perez who’d allegedly been bragging about carrying out the ambush-style shooting to others in person and online, including sharing details of the fatal incident with documented gang members. On social media, authorities say Perez also bragged about toting “ultra lethal” ammunition in relation to the shooting.
Subsequent investigation into the shooting found phone records, Snapchat location information, and Uber data that placed Perez near the scene of the August 2021 shooting. Salt Lake County Jail records show Perez was booked on the evening of July 10, 2026, nearly five years after the fatal house party shooting, with booking information listing civil traffic violations alongside charges of aggravated murder, suggesting the arrest was subsequent to a simple traffic stop.
Following Perez’s arrest, he reportedly admitted to carrying out the August 2021 shooting, telling investigators he shot Rodriguez and Valenzuela because he believed they’d been “talking negative about his homies,” according to authorities. Perez told investigators he’d received the address information of the house party from a girl on Snapchat and was given a ride to the scene by a friend.
On August 25, Third District Judge Heather Brereton handed down a sentence of 45 years to life regarding a plea agreement reached with the now-24-year-old Perez, with 15 years to life for both aggravated murder counts, five years to life for the two felony discharge of a firearm with serious bodily injury counts, and five years to life for the single count of felony discharge of a firearm.
During Perez’s sentencing hearing, Salt Lake County Deputy District Attorney Vincent Meister described to the court how the defendant crept up the stairs of the house where the victims were, gunning down Rodriguez and shooting Valenzuela in the back of the head. Meister emphasized the depraved nature of the offense, while also highlighting the trauma it caused for all those who witnessed the open-air executions at what was meant to be a social gathering.
Autumn Baker, who was the juvenile female injured at the time of the shooting, shared a victim impact statement during Perez’s sentencing, which was read before the court, describing how her life changed in the span of “six minutes” at the age of 17 when she was shot in the arm and witnessed the two other victims killed right beside her. Baker now reportedly suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, with her statement reading in part, “He took two innocent souls from this world, and half of mine. He left Ivan, Juan and me to die.”
Prior to doling out Perez’s sentence, Judge Brereton described the plea deal as a “gift” to Perez, who was originally facing 25 years to life on each count of aggravated murder. Perez addressed the court during his sentencing, offering an apology to the victims’ families, saying, “I know what I did, it was wrong, but I just want to apologize, that's it.”
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