Fuquay-Varina teen stabbed 23 times, autopsy finds

Maria Patricia Perez was stabbed at least 23 times in the chest, which pierced both her lungs and hear, according to an autopsy report.

Posted 9:35 p.m. Oct 17, 2011 — Updated 9:35 p.m. Oct 17, 2011

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — A 15-year-old Fuquay-Varina girl whose body was found in Jordan Lake this summer was stabbed nearly two dozen times, according to an autopsy report released Monday by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Chapel Hill.

The report said that some of the 23 wounds Maria Patricia Perez received to her chest pierced both her lungs and heart.

Fishermen found the teen's body Aug. 6 near a fishing ramp off Farrington Road, about a mile north of U.S. Highway 64 in Chatham County.

Investigators said Perez's boyfriend, Gabriel Alejandro Maricio Lopez, 20, of 600 Church St., and Alejanero Prada Sanchez, 19, of 307-23 Linwood St., are both charged with first-degree murder in the case.

Investigators believe that Lopez stabbed Perez after an argument and that Sanchez was present for the crime.

They have not commented further about a possible motive.

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