At Tabatha Tozzi vigil, police discuss bringing her alleged killer to US

Judith Vaughs still has the last text message she received from Tabatha Tozzi in her cellphone.

“I look at it all the time,” said Vaughs, a childhood friend of Tozzi’s. “It was a birthday message, saying how much she loved me.”

Vaughs, 29, received the message in late 2022, a few months before Tozzi was shot, allegedly by her then-boyfriend in Las Vegas on April 22, 2023.

Tozzi, who was 26, died at University Medical Center two days later. Her accused killer, Oswaldo Nathanahel Perez-Sanchez, fled to Mexico after the shooting, but was arrested by Mexican authorities earlier this month in connection with the slaying of a woman there.

Vaughs was one of more than 50 people who came out to Craig Ranch Regional Park in North Las Vegas for a celebration of life for Tozzi on Thursday. It was the first time Tozzi’s family and friends, who have advocated for justice for Tozzi since she was killed, have gathered in a public event since Perez-Sanchez was captured in Mexico on April 15.

“I don’t want anybody to forget about my daughter,” said Tozzi’s mother, Regina Lacerda. “She’s the light of my life. She is … I’m never going to say that she was. I feel her presence.”

Bringing an alleged killer back

Several Metro police officers, along with Gary Schofield, head of the U.S. Marshals Service in Nevada, were also at Thursday’s event.

Metro Undersheriff Andrew Walsh held Lacerda’s hand as he spoke about the challenges of bringing Tozzi’s alleged killer to justice on American soil.

“We’re going to have to fight for the justice that Regina seeks in bringing the suspect in this case back to the United States for prosecution in an American courtroom,” Walsh said. “We’re not giving up hope of that. To get him in an American courtroom with handcuffs on so (Regina) can see him, that’s just one more challenge for us.”

Schofield told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that there was nothing new to report Thursday on the possible extradition of Perez-Sanchez back to the United States.

“That’s up to Mexico,” Schofield said.

Remembering ‘Tabby’

Friends and loved ones shared food, soft drinks and memories of the woman many called “Tabby.”

Photos of Tozzi and signs were placed on and around a picnic table at one of the park’s shelters. One read “#TABBY4EVER WE WANT JUSTICE.”

Vaughs, who lives in San Diego, was close friends with Tozzi growing up in Las Vegas. She said the two became friends when they were 11.

“I feel very grateful that I get to experience today,” Vaughs said. “At the same time, I’m very overwhelmed. Even though it’s been two years, I still go back to the moment when I found out that she was shot. Part of me still doesn’t understand why this happened.”

A mother’s pain

Wearing sunglasses because of recent eye surgery, Lacerda spoke for more than 10 minutes about her daughter, at times breaking down into tears.

“I have to be her voice now,” Lacerda said. “The day that she passed, I wanted to go with her, but I know she was always there with me, telling me, ‘Mom, don’t give up.’”

Tozzi, according to the Metropolitan Police Department, was involved in an argument with Perez-Sanchez in her car the day she was shot. The argument took place in the 8100 block of Leger Drive, just west of South Cimarron Road and north of Alta Drive.

After allegedly shooting Tozzi in the head, Perez-Sanchez then, authorities said, carjacked Tozzi’s friend and drove away.

Multiple law enforcement agencies from the U.S. and Mexico spent time searching for Perez-Sanchez before he was captured.

According to Mexican authorities and published news reports, including those in the Mexican news outlet Riodoce, Perez-Sanchez is accused of killing Vivian Karely, 26, in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.

Karely disappeared on March 22 and was found slain on April 7, Riodoce reported.

‘I need justice for her’

As for Lacerda, she said she wanted to spend time talking about her daughter, not her alleged killer. The past two years have been hard on her and her family, she said.

“I don’t sleep anymore,” she said. “I only sleep two or three hours now. My life went upside down. I don’t know who I am at this moment because I became another person.”

No matter what happens with Perez-Sanchez, Tozzi’s loved ones made it clear Thursday that they have no plans to let her memory fade.

“Every single day, I ask her to be my guide,” Lacerda said of her daughter. “I tell her I need justice for her and I ask her to just be my guide.”

Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.