PHOTOS: Family and Sheriff offer thoughts at last Friday’s candlelight vigil for Joey Perry

As Mari Ausiello surveyed the crowd of over 200 people assembled at Ian Deutch Memorial Park, at the spot where her 22-year-old son, Joey Perry, was shot to death on July 5, she commented through tears in a raspy voice, “A lot of these people are just family, extended family and friends.”

Perry was the youngest of five siblings. His older brother, Kurtis Hatherly, offered a few words to the somber group of friends and family. “I want to start by saying thank you for those who decided to attend my baby brother’s vigil. I had to type something out because I’m probably going to be emotional and I suck at speeches even more,” started Hatherly. “Outside of the occasional stupid decisions, he was one of the best people you could have known. He was selfless, always wanted to make other people smile, and going out of his way to help others.”

Hatherly continued, “I don’t want to continue to put focus on the tragedy, as much as I want to put focus on who he was. We have some pictures for you guys to sign and a memory box. Please feel free to write some stuff down and sign the pictures. When we [immediate family members] are struggling, we’ll read some of them to bring up the smiles to our faces.”

Perry’s sister, Christiana Latini-Cooper, was amazed at the turnout for her baby brother. “He was always saying he felt alone, but in all reality, so many people loved him.”

After the sun set, the assembled were encouraged to light candles, and Ausiello said a few words. “Joey had a heart of gold. He’d give you the shirt off his back, the last dollar in his pocket, go without. He’d put a smile on your face, even if he was miserable. That’s just who Joey was. Joey, we’re gonna miss you, buddy.”

On Saturday night, July 5, a fight broke out among a group of people, many of them juveniles, during the Movie in the Park event at the Ian Deutch Memorial Park, according to witnesses and NCSO. Deputies were initially dispatched to the location, but the fight was over, and deputies weren’t able to determine who was involved. 10 minutes after the crowd dispersed, and deputies left, a red Chevy Camaro SS with 3 individuals pulled up to the area and fired shots into a the group, striking Perry 4 times, causing fatal injuries.

During a press conference held by McGill on Tuesday, July 8, NCSO’s on-going investigation had determined, at that point, that there were 3 identified persons of interest in the shooting. McGill asked for the public’s help in finding the 3, all of which eventually surrendered to authorities, with 2 being charged with open murder and held without bail at the Nye County Jail, Carlos Blakely, 19, and Anthony Aguilar, 18.

Nye County Sheriff Joe McGill was at the vigil, “…as a sign of respect. We’re part of the community, too.” To ensure there were no issues, McGill and his deputies escorted an unidentified male from the proceedings before any trouble could start.

When asked by the PVT about his thoughts about the suspects turning themselves in, McGill offered, “It’s always possibility they’re going to surrender, especially when we put that pressure on them through the media and social media. It makes it pretty hard to hide,” reflected McGill. “There’s only so many places you could go and hide, and even if you go a long ways and you hide for a long time, sooner or later, since we know who you are, you get caught. Even if you’re caught in Mexico, we’ll bring you back from Mexico,” continued McGill.

“So I think that’s probably always the back of their minds, and they decided to come in and tell us what they told us. Now, whether that’s the truth or not, that’s for a court to determine,” said McGill.

Perry’s older cousin, Isais Garcia, spoke to the PVT at the vigil and said, “We used to play together every day when we were kids. It’s hard seeing something like this happen. Joey was a protector for anybody and everybody. So, knowing that he went out protecting somebody in this manner, it just shows what kind of a man he was.”

When Garcia was asked what his thoughts were about the vigil, he said, ”It’s beautiful. With the way the sky is right now, you can tell he’s over here just watching us.”

Hatherly told the PVT that he believes Perry is in a better place, “That’s what I got to keep telling myself. Little brother starts looking out for bigger brother.”

John Clausen is a freelance reporter living in Pahrump.