A FAMILY’S PAIN MURDERED AS SHE SAVED HER KIDS
KRYSTAL PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE
As sisters go, Krystal Perales and Stephanie Flores were as close as they come. They had their first children at the same time, they lived together, and they relied on each other for love and support during the worst of times.
And so on the day that Krystal’s estranged husband Jesse turned up at their house with a gun, the sisters banded together to save the kids.
‘Krystal’s husband came to kill her,’ Stephanie, 30, from Corpus Christi, Texas, exclusively tells New Idea. ‘It was the most terrifying day of our lives.’
Krystal was already married to army sergeant Jesse Perales when Stephanie married her hubby Joe Sanchez.
Krystal went on to welcome four children – James, Jenavie, Julian and Karolynne – but behind closed doors the loving mum was hiding a secret.
‘She told me that Jesse had been beating her up for years,’ recalls Stephanie of the day the truth came out. ‘I was so shocked – I would never have guessed he was like that – he was always so nice and friendly to all of us.’
A terrified Krystal decided to take matters into her own hands.
She moved out of the family house with the children. In 2009, the pair officially separated – keeping on amicable terms for the sake of the children. Krystal moved on and met another man with whom she had a baby, Randy. But when that relationship ended, Stephanie recalls it was clear
‘THE LAST THING I REMEMBER IS KRYSTAL REACHING OUT TO ME, AND THEN I HEARD THE GUN SHOTS’
Jesse still had feelings for her.
‘We wanted him out of her life for good,’ she remembers. ‘Krystal filed for divorce, but he would never sign the papers. She and the kids moved into my little house in Corpus Christi and we made the best of it.’
Then, one Sunday evening, after the sisters had just ordered a pizza dinner for the kids, there was an ominous bang at the door. It was Jesse, and what he said will haunt Stephanie forever.
‘I’m going to kill your mother,’ he calmly told one of his sons, before breaking down the door.
‘I ran to the lounge to try to get my phone off the charger and call the police. I think Krystal bolted to hide or get help – it was absolute chaos,’ recalls Stephanie of the horror that followed.
As Jesse started to search the house for Krystal, Stephanie ran out the back door with the children. As the five of them raced to the backyard, they found Krystal hiding.
‘Our house is on stilts and she was hiding underneath where the washer and dryer were,’ Stephanie remembers.
‘It was a relief to see her and I jumped over the fence first so that I help get the kids over to safety. She started to put the kids on the dog’s house so that I could pull them over the fence.
‘“Can I come?” she asked, and I nodded. The last thing I remember is seeing Krystal reaching out to me, and then I heard the gun shots...’
Jesse had shot the mother of his children in the head. As 28-year-old Krystal lay dying on the ground, he pulled the trigger again and again.
‘The last memory I have of my sister is her reaching out to me for help, with me over the other side of the fence,’ a devastated Stephanie says.
‘I lost my best friend and soulmate that day.’
Jesse was picked up by the police the next day and arrested. In March 2017, he pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
He was also convicted of a separate count of rape against Krystal. It’s a bitter victory for Stephanie and her mother Anita, who now has custody of Krystal’s children.
‘It breaks our hearts knowing what a lot emotional hurt the children are all harbouring,’ Stephanie says.
‘They lost both their parents that day and we can’t change any of it. I help Mum a lot with Krystal’s kids and we are still as close as ever. Our loss never gets easier, but it has become more bearable – we try to create as loving a home environment as we can for Krystal’s children.
‘My sister will be forever missed and we love her desperately, but we will keep her memory alive.’