The manhunt for a Knoxville man accused of murdering an 18-year-old woman ended Tuesday afternoon in Oak Ridge. The Knoxville Police Department said Juan Carlos Diaz Perez was located and arrested near the Oak Ridge Quarry by the U.S. Marshals Smokey Mountain Fugitive Task Force. Diaz Perez was transported back to Knoxville.
The search for Diaz Perez began Monday afternoon when police responded to a call from a third party that he had gravely injured his girlfriend at a home on Mercer Street in Knoxville. His pickup truck was found later that day at a park in Oak Ridge. The body of 18-year-old Suceli Perez was discovered in the bed of the truck. KPD said it is believed that the victim died by blunt force trauma, pending Medical Examiner’s Office autopsy.
Juan Carlos Diaz Perez, age 20, has been charged with first-degree murder.