Marciano Perez was killed on May 16, 1993, during a mass shooting at Carrillo’s Club, a bar in southeast Fresno. Two gunmen entered shortly after closing time and opened fire; seven people died that night, including Perez, his wife Alicia Duenas Perez, the bar owner Reyes Carrillo, Reyes’s mother Rachel Carrillo, his half-brother Alfredo Carrillo, a customer named Mary Ruiz, and the bouncer Rudy Sanchez.

The investigation initially stalled when Fresno police cleared their prime suspects after learning those individuals were in jail at the time of the killings. A later breakthrough came when Johnnie Malarkey, a convicted killer, confessed to the Carrillo’s Club murders, saying the shootings were part of a robbery. Malarkey’s confession tied him to multiple killings in 1993; he was later sentenced to consecutive life terms without parole. The second gunman at the bar was believed to be Allen Heflin, who died by suicide in October 1993.