Nearly 14 years after her death, a local family is remembering the life of a beautiful 9-year-old girl whose life was taken away from her.
Mary Bea Perez was kidnapped and murdered in April of 1999 after being taken from Market Square. Her body was later found near an underpass on I-35 and Laredo.
Her killer, Tommy Lynn Sells, confessed after he was picked up for another murder. He is currently on death row in Del Rio.
Perez's family attended a special mass on All Souls Day Saturday and visited her grave. They made sure it was well-kept and decorated the way Mary would have liked it.
"The reason we like to come today is because we get top stay late with her because they don't close the cemetery," said Mary Torres, Perez' grandmother.
Perez's grandparents want to keep her memory alive.
"I still miss her a lot," said Torres. "Just keep your kids very, very safe. Always hold on to them, because in one split second, you just don't know."