"My Daughter Could Rest": Mary Bea Perez's Family on Tommy Lynn Sells's Execution Date, KABB News, 2014
A January 2014 San Antonio TV news report on the execution date set for Tommy Lynn Sells, told through the mother of 9-year-old Mary Bea Perez, who hoped to witness it.
- Subject
- Tommy Lynn Sells
- Recorded
- about January 4, 2014
- Runtime
- 1:46
Content warning: Concerns the murders of children; the victim's mother says her daughter was molested, strangled and suffocated. No further graphic detail.
The Interview
This is a short news report broadcast by KABB, FOX San Antonio, in early January 2014, after a Texas judge set an execution date for Tommy Lynn Sells. Reporter Lauren Lee told the story through the family of Mary Bea Perez, a 9-year-old San Antonio girl Sells murdered in 1999. Her mother, Patricia Guerrero, speaks about her daughter and about the execution. Sells himself does not appear or speak in the report.
Historical Context
Tommy Lynn Sells was born on June 28, 1964, in Oakland, California, and drifted across the United States for much of his adult life. On December 31, 1999, he attacked two girls in a trailer home outside Del Rio, in Val Verde County, Texas, cutting their throats. Kaylene "Katy" Harris, 13, was killed; her friend survived, walked to a neighbor's house for help and later testified against him. Sells was sentenced to death for Kaylene Harris's murder on September 20, 2000. In 2003 he pleaded guilty to the murder of Mary Bea Perez, who had been taken from the Fiesta celebrations in San Antonio in April 1999, and received a life sentence. Sells claimed many more killings across the country; the numbers he gave have never been verified.
Circumstances
A state district judge in Val Verde County (Del Rio) set Sells's execution for April 3, 2014, in Huntsville; the order was reported on January 3, 2014. KABB's report, broadcast in "Fox News at 9" and posted on the station's channel on January 4, 2014, visited the Perez family. The station posted the report with an Associated Press wire story as its description; the story does not describe the report itself.
What the Report Covers
The report opens in the family home, where Mary Bea's photograph greets visitors and her grandmother still keeps her teddy bear. Guerrero describes what was done to her daughter and says the execution would give her closure. It notes that the execution was set for days before what would have been Mary Bea's 24th birthday, and that Guerrero hoped to witness it.
What Makes the Recording Significant
The report records the view of one victim's family three months before the execution, at the moment the date was set. It is a reminder that Sells's death sentence was for one murder, in Del Rio, while other families, such as Mary Bea Perez's, had seen him sentenced only to life.
Archival Importance
A contemporary local news record of the setting of Sells's execution date, from the station's own channel. Sells was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit on April 3, 2014.
Important Caveats
Sells does not speak in this video. It is a short news package, not an interview with him. The YouTube description is an AP wire story, not a description of the report.
Lauren Lee: You can still feel 9-year-old Mary Bea Perez's presence at her family's home.
Patricia Guerrero: Oh, there's not a single day that her name is not [unclear: "interested in this" / probably "mentioned in this house"].
Lauren Lee: Her smiling face greets everyone who walks in the door, and her grandmother still cuddles her teddy bear. But she's been gone for almost 15 long, painful years.
Patricia Guerrero: No mother wants to go through what my daughter went through, the way he murdered her. He strangled her and suffocated her, molested her.
Lauren Lee: Her mother, Patricia Guerrero, desperately misses her beautiful daughter. Mary Bea was kidnapped from Market Square during Fiesta in 1999. Her body was found a week later. Her mother now hopes her killer will soon be put to death.
Patricia Guerrero: I think it will give me closure, and my daughter could rest. And maybe my life will be a little bit different, you know.
Lauren Lee: Tommy Lynn Sells pleaded guilty for Mary Bea's murder and was sentenced to life in prison. He had previously received the death penalty for slashing the throats of two Del Rio girls in 1999. A 13-year-old girl died, but an 11-year-old survived. Sells is set to be executed in April, days before what would have been Mary Bea's 24th birthday. Guerrero is hoping to witness his execution.
Patricia Guerrero: He hurt so many people. He killed so many people. Babies. He just don't deserve to be on this earth.
Lauren Lee: Lauren Lee, Fox News at 9. [01:41 to 01:46: no speech in the machine transcript; clip ends.] ---