Julie Perez, who advocated for police accountability after her son’s killing, has died

Julie Perez, who spent years advocating for Richmond police reform after her son Richard “Pedie” Perez was shot by a police officer, died on Jan. 22, according to her family and city officials.

She and her husband Rick Perez became a constant presence at Richmond City Council meetings after their 24-year-old son was shot to death in 2014 by then Richmond police officer Wallace Jensen, less than half mile from their family business, Perez Brothers Paper Recycling.

In October, using a wheelchair, she attended a ceremony where the city honored the family by renaming a portion of Spring Street “Pedie Perez Avenue” in Pedie’s honor.

“I hope he sees this,” she said during the ceremony. “It (the sign) won’t bring Pedie back — but at least he could see that we are trying.”

In recent years her illness limited her from attending council meetings in person, although Rick Perez and his mother Patricia Perez continued to show up and advocate for continued transparency related to police misconduct.

The family was noticeably absent from the Jan. 21 Richmond City Council meeting, and during Tuesday’s meeting District 4 council member Soheila Bana confirmed that Julie Perez had died and adjourned the meeting in her honor.

“It highlights the vast impact of gun violence. One incompetent police officer shot a young man whose only crime was being drunk,” Bana said. 

Pedie Perez was intoxicated but unarmed when he was killed outside a neighborhood liquor store in September of 2014, according to findings published in 2018 by Richmond’s Community Police Review Commission. The commission determined that Jensen had violated the department’s use of force policy by not choosing less lethal options.

Former Contra Costa County District Attorney Mark Peterson opted not to charge Jensen, who retired in 2016 due to disability. The county’s current District Attorney, Diana Becton, who was elected four years after Perez’ death, upheld Peterson’s decision after reviewing the case in 2019, saying she was unsure she could secure a conviction.

The family was instrumental in fighting for more police transparency regarding police violence incidents and internal investigations.

The couple filed a civil rights lawsuit in 2015 against Jensen, but after reaching a $850,000 settlement with the city, the suit was dropped. The couple joined organizations advocating for greater police accountability in supporting Senate Bill 1421, a state law making it easier for the public to access police records related to discipline and the misuse of force in suspect fatalities.

Neither the city nor Jensen have ever admitted any wrongdoing.

Bana said that the grief experienced by the Perez family continued to impact them because he was their only son.

“It’s the long term impacts of gun violence on families due to the sadness of losing their only son that was conceived after 13 years (of trying to have children),” Bana said at Tuesday’s council meeting.

Bana also thanked Mayor Eduardo Martinez, Police Chief Bisa French, Public Works Director Daniel Chavarria and City Manager Shasa Curl for their help speeding up the  street renaming and for the art installment on trash receptacles outside of Uncle Sam’s Liquor, where Perez died.

“That was soothing for Julie Perez, and I’m glad we did it in time before she passed away,” Bana said.

During the street renaming ceremony, Julie Perez described the event as “bittersweet.”

“Part of me feels happy, but part of me feels like we shouldn’t be out here doing any of this and the reasons why are hard to deal with,” she said. 

Services will be held at 1 p.m. Friday in Sacramento at the East Lawn Cemetery, according to the family.