Homicide trial in Ayon case moved ahead to June
The first-degree intentional homicide trial in the case of the Mosinee man accused of murdering Cassandra Ayon of Loyal in October 2020 has been moved forward more than seven months on the court calendar after an attorney for the defendant filed a demand for a speedy trial.
On March 25, the judge presiding over the case against 42-year-old Jesus Contreras Perez scheduled a 5-day, 12-person jury trial to begin on Jan. 23, 2023. Three days later, attorney Claire Longdin of Milwaukee, who is defending Contreras Perez, filed the demand for a speedy trial. Lawyers on both sides of the case then met via telephone on April 6, when Judge Daniel Diehn rescheduled the 5-day trial to start on June 6, 2022. A motion hearing to deal with any pre-trial motions by attorneys in the case has been set for May 24. Contreras Perez was charged in June 2021 with first-degree intentional homicide even though Ayon remains missing. Prosecutors believe she was murdered and are proceeding with the homicide charges even though her remains have not been located. Contreras has officially been charged with first-degree intentional homicide/as party to a crime, hiding a corpse/as party to a crime, and stalkingresulting in bodily harm/domestic abuse.
Ayon was first reported missing by her family in early October 2020. She was last seen at the home of a friend in Unity in the early morning hours of Oct. 3, but never returned home nor showed up for work. Authorities conducted an extensive search for Ayon, but were not able to find her or any remains. They concluded through an extensive check into her life and background that she had likely been killed.
Witnesses told detectives investigating Ayon’s disappearance that her former boyfriend, Contreras Perez, had been stalking and threatening her in the weeks prior to early October 2020. The couple, who had a child together, had reportedly broken up shortly before her disappearance, and she had told friends that Contreras Perez was angry that she may have been seeing other men. On the night she vanished, witnesses said Ayon was watching out the window of a friend’s home to see if Contreras Perez was following her.
As detectives closed in on Contreras Perez in their investigation, they tried to contact him, but he had traveled to Minnesota. When he returned, he was interviewed as to his whereabouts on the night of the disappearance and his possible connection. In contacting Contreras Perez’ employer, investigators learned that he had shown up for work at about 6 a.m. on the morning of Ayon’s disappearance. Later that morning, he visited a local telephone store to get a replacement for a cell phone he claimed he had lost.
