After custody exchange turns violent, Killeen woman gets probation in shooting case | crime

BELTON – During a sentencing hearing this week, a Bell County Circuit Court judge warned a Killeen woman about the “no contact with the victim” provision in a plea agreement in a gun assault case.

Stephanie Perez, 29, previously pleaded guilty on October 30 to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She was charged May 24 after attacking and injuring a woman during a custody exchange last year.

On Wednesday afternoon, Judge Steve Duskie in the 426th Judicial District entered a plea agreement in the case and sentenced Perez to five years of deferred probation.

“As a condition, I require that you serve 30 days in the Bell County Jail, which you can do as work release no later than January 26,” Duskie said. “It does mean that you are not allowed to have any contact with the victim or his family members.”

On December 10, 2022 at 7:54 p.m., a woman met with the father of her 6-year-old son in the Party City parking lot to exchange custody.

“While the victim was giving (the father) diapers and milk, he wanted to talk to the victim about something someone had told him,” an arrest affidavit states. “The victim told him she didn’t want to talk about it and went back to her car. Perez, who was with (the father), followed the victim and asked him to talk. The victim refused and the suspect pulled out a 9mm handgun and threatened the victim.”

Police said Perez then struck the woman in the back of the head “more than once” before driving away with the father in the vehicle.

The injured woman reported the attack to the police that same night.

According to the affidavit, an officer could see bleeding due to “multiple abrasions resulting from a blow with a blunt object on the back of the head.”

Killeen police stopped a vehicle matching the suspect's description later that night. During a “probable cause search” of the car, police found a brown Glock 9mm handgun in the glove compartment.

According to court and jail records, Perez was released from the Bell County Jail after posting $100,000 bond.