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Judge sentences Paso Robles man to 28 years to life for murdering witness

June 22, 2022

Nicholas Ron

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

A San Luis Obispo County judge sentenced a 25-year-old Paso Robles man on Tuesday to 28 years to life in prison for the premeditated murder of 27-year-old Trevon Perry, a witness in another case.

Nicholas Christopher Ron’s sentence did not satisfy Perry’s family. Perry’s relatives spoke out in court during Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, taking aim at both Ron and the criminal court process.

In Dec. 2019, Perry testified against a murder defendant who killed his childhood friend. On March 16, 2020, before a trial date was set in the case, Perry’s family reported him missing.

Six months later, investigators found Perry’s body at a home in Riverside. Detectives later arrested Ron for Perry’s murder, and officers arrested several other suspects on accessory to murder charges.

Ron shot Perry at point-blank range.

At a court hearing in 2021, two of Ron’s relatives testified against him. Both of the relatives struck deals with prosecutors allowing them to serve probation instead of receiving prison sentences in exchange for their testimony.

The first relative testified he received a single text message from Ron on March 16, 2020, asking for help to “get rid of something.” The relative of the murder defendant then agreed to assist Ron.

Trevon Perry

He helped Ron try to dispose of Perry’s body in Paso Robles, but the effort did not work, the relative testified. The man then drove with the second relative to Riverside, where several of Ron’s family members live. Ron followed behind them in a separate car.

The first relative said the thought he was helping dispose of a weapon until the second family member told him during the drive to Riverside that he thought there was body in the trunk.

Similarly, the second relative testified he received a text message from Ron saying, “we have to get rid of something.” At the time, he was suffering from heroin withdrawal, the second relative said.

It was not until reaching Ron’s grandmother’s house in Riverside that he was told there was a person in the trunk, the second relative testified.

On March 15, 2022, Ron pleaded guilty to first-degree premeditated murder with an enhancement for using a handgun in the commission of a murder. Then on Tuesday, Judge Jesse Marino sentenced Ron to 28 years to life.

Following the sentencing hearing, District Attorney Dan Dow released a statement saying Perry suffered a senseless death.

“No number of years in prison could be enough to adequately pay for Trevon’s senseless death,” Dow said. “We continue to grieve for Trevon’s family and loved ones. Trevon Perry will always be missed and remembered.”

During the sentencing hearing, Perry’s younger sister and parents gave statements expressing their heartbreak and their frustration with the court process.

“The death penalty, life without the possibility of parole, no good time, nothing — you’re there forever, whether that’s him serving out day for day until he dies,” said Tierra Perry, Trevon’s sister. “That’s what justice would have looked like for me.” [KSBY]

Perry’s family also expressed frustration over the alleged lenient punishments Ron’s relatives face for taking part in the attempted coverup of the murder.


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California society is paying the price for the reversal of capital punishment & Three Strikes sentencing along with the miserable failure of progressive’s ”equity” fad of leniency for sociopathic criminal behavior. The whole judicial/corrections system needs to be revamped and overhauled. We can start by re-naming & thinking of it as the Victims Justice System rather than the Criminal Justice System.


7

Hope that this eases some pain, not enough IMO tho. Find peace with Topher, Tre, your families miss and love the heck out of you. Thank you for trying to do whats right for Topher. Do good and good comes back to you. Karma is a mother F’er if not!


2

I am relieved that this very dangerous criminal has been found guilty and sentenced, taken off the streets and out of civil circulation. However, I completely agree with Trevon Perry’s family. The premeditated killing of that brave young man for standing up to killers and doing the right thing should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Without severe consequences for such depravity, how can we expect anyone to come forward in the future?


My heart hurts for the family of this courageous young man, Trevon Perry, who risked himself to do what was best for his community. It is not just their loss, but all of ours as well.


27

Again, I am surprised to agree with most of what you say. However, it what we are reading in this article is, in fact, “punished to the fullest extent of the law,” I do not agree that is sufficient. I do not object to the death penalty, but I DO object to the method of execution. Way too many mistakes are discovered for me to accept any form of unnatural termination of a life. I think the method of execution should be exceptionally long interment (prison until one dies). Continue to call it the “death penalty”. Continue to call the prison “death row”. This is essentially what we are doing now. Apparently, it is less expensive than execution, and until death, if a mistake is discovered, there is some (large) amount of money which will nearly reasonably compensate the imprisoned victim of the government’s error.


If ever there was a case that deserved the death penalty, this case is it. Trevon Perry is not coming back in 27 years. The guilty plea tells me that there was a plea deal that Dow made with this low life to avoid a trial, and Marino had to have agreed to it.


0

Dude, “death penalty”? Are you unaware you are in California? We do not have the death penalty here. You are thinking of a “red” state, perhaps?


I think that in this case the perp deserves to spend the rest of his natural life in prison, especially given that the safety of other innocent citizens is at stake as well.


1