A man walked across the street on San Antonio's far West Side and opened fire on two brothers standing outside their own home. Eleven-year-old Maliki Damian Perales died that night. His 20-year-old brother, Drayven Quiroz, died the next morning. Two more siblings were shot at and missed.
Bexar County deputies arrested the neighbor, 40-year-old Daniel Antonio Perez, within hours. Perez now faces two counts of capital murder, plus five more charges of aggravated assault. He is being held on a combined $2.3 million bond. His case matters far beyond San Antonio. It is a warning about what happens when a mental health crisis goes untreated and a gun is close by.
The shooting happened around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 4, in the 9800 block of Acadian Drive, near Kriewald Road on the far West Side. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said Perez crossed the street and started shooting at the Perales-Quiroz family with no warning. Salazar said there was no fight, no history, and no reason for it. "No known prior history between these two families," Salazar said. "No apparent provocation."
Maliki died that night from gunshot wounds to his head and body. Deputies ruled his death a homicide. Drayven died about 12 hours later at a hospital. He had just months earlier nearly died from a serious health scare tied to diabetes, and he was still recovering. He worked handyman jobs with his dad and his little brother.
Perez also fired at two other siblings, a 14-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl, who came outside after hearing the first shots. Both shots missed, but the bullets could have hit anyone else near the front door that night.
After the shooting, Perez ran on foot about a quarter mile. He called 911 himself and admitted to the shooting, but would not say where he was. Deputies tracked his cellphone signal and found him hiding in a stranger's backyard. He had ditched the gun in a nearby drainage ditch. Deputies found it later.
Sheriff Salazar said Perez's own family told deputies he had shown signs of a mental health crisis before the shooting, including depression and seeing things that were not there. None of it had ever been reported to police or treated. "There had been some signs," Salazar said. Deputies say Perez has no prior criminal record. "Unbeknownst to [the family], they had what I would categorize as a ticking time bomb right across the street," Salazar said. He added that even in crisis, Perez still had the presence of mind to hide the gun. "While clearly there's some sort of a mental health crisis going on, he still had the presence of mind and the culpable mental state to go conceal the weapon somewhere," Salazar said.
The boys' father, Andrew Perales, spoke through tears about his sons. "He was a soldier. A strong, loving, caring, beautiful heart," Perales said of one son. "I'm so proud of them. I love them. I love my boys," he said. He remembered their generosity and their work ethic. Maliki, he said, was known as "a hugger." Perales said his family had been kind to their neighbor Perez, even though they barely knew him. "We cut their grass, we helped take out the trash," Perales said. "I just never knew the dude."
This case is not happening in the Rio Grande Valley, but it hits close to home for South Texas families anyway. Untreated mental illness and easy access to guns is not just a Bexar County problem. Rural counties across South Texas often have even fewer mental health resources than San Antonio does. Families here know what it is like to watch a loved one struggle and not know where to turn for help.
Capital murder in Texas is the most serious charge on the books. It can mean the death penalty or life in prison without parole. Perez is being held at the Bexar County Jail. His bond is set at $2.3 million combined across all charges, meaning he cannot post bond and go free unless he or his family comes up with that full amount, or a bondsman puts it up for a fee. A district court date is tentatively set for November 3.
Neighbors have left flowers and a small wooden cross at the shooting scene on Acadian Drive. Bexar County investigators say the case remains open as they build the file for prosecutors. El Tejano will keep following this story as it moves through the courts.
