Luisa D. Paiz of Ft. Hood, Tx. has been convicted of two charges for her part in a scheme to kill her child's father in order to gain custody.
Paiz, a 33-year-old Afghanistan war veteran, was found guilty by a Montgomery County jury Monday of first-degree assault and conspiracy to commit first-degree assault on her ex-husband, Sanitago Perez, in order to gain custody of their young child.
Paiz hired Khiry Blue, her 22-year-old military squadmate, to go Perez's home in the early hours of the morning and kill him. She paid him $5,000, prosecutors said; Paiz said the money was paid to injure Blue, not kill him.
In June 2012, Perez left his Gaithersburg home around 4:30 a.m. and was assaulted by a masked Blue. Reports say Blue ordered the victim to "shut up" and dragged Perez to the rear of his home, where Blue attempted to strangle him to death.
Perez, fearing for his life, fought back and screamed until a neighbor finally heard his cries and turned on her floodlights, scaring Blue away.
Upon police arrival at the scene, a shaken Perez gave the police a description of the perpetrator and later went to the hospital to treat the wounds he had sustained on his hands and head during the struggle.
Police were able to track the crime to Blue through DNA found in a pair of discarded gloves and phone records linking him to the area.
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Phone records indicate that shortly following the assault, Blue initiated contact with Paiz. Some of their discussions have been caught on audio surveillance, as they discussed how Paiz should explain the $5,000 payment to Blue.
Police were able to arrest Blue and during interrogations, Blue implicated Luisa Paiz in the crime, saying that she had issued him a payment of $5,000 for the murder of Santiago Perez. Paiz later admitted to conspiring with Blue to kill Perez.
In August, Blue pleaded guilty to four counts of attempted first-degree attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree assault and conspiracy to commit first-degree assault.
Sentencing for Paiz is Dec. 18, when she will face up to 45 years in prison. Blue faces sentencing Nov. 15, where he could receive up to a life sentence.
