Group accused of kidnapping woman and her son out of ‘jealousy,’ sheriff says

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, S.C. — Deputies are still investigating after a mom and her 9-year-old son were taken by force from a South Carolina home.

The Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office said they were told on May 28 about the incident, which happened at a home in the Jefferson area.

Deputies found both the mom and her son after about eight hours, investigators said.

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Channel 9 Reporter Tina Terry learned from deputies that the motive behind the case was jealousy.

Chesterfield County deputies told Terry that the ringleader in the crime was a woman named Amy Perez, and she arranged the kidnapping because she was jealous of her husband’s new girlfriend.

As of Thursday, Perez is still on the streets.

According to deputies, Perez worked on the scheme together with her 21-year-old son, Hunter Ricci, another 17-year-old son, and 36-year-old Randy Price.

Detectives said the four of them pretended to be police, and they forced their way into a house in Pageland, put bags over the victims’ heads, and forced them into a car.

The sheriff’s office told Terry the victim managed to call her boyfriend just before the abduction. He called deputies and they rushed to the scene.

Deputies talked to a neighbor who saw the abduction and had video from surveillance cameras. The video supported everything the witness said.

Authorities were able to use cell phone location data to find the victims at an abandoned house 10 miles away.

“The 9-year-old son was not physically injured ... his mother had a stab wound and had been cut with a knife,” Sheriff Cambo Streater said. “His mother had a stab wound and had been cut with a knife.”

Perez and her son, Ricci, lived in Union County in North Carolina. They were arrested on warrants for attempted murder and kidnapping shortly after the alleged crime.

Perez was released on bond.

On Thursday, Chesterfield County deputies asked a judge to put Perez back in jail until they can secure a governor’s warrant to bring her to South Carolina.

“She needs to be in jail, these are very serious charges,” Streater said. “The bond has to be high enough so she can’t get out.”

The sheriff says since being out of jail, Perez has threatened the victims of the crime again.

Terry spoke with officials in Union County who said warrants have been reissued for Perez’s arrest. Both of her sons were in jail Thursday night, and deputies are also looking for a young woman who they believe was a part of the crime.

On June 20, authorities in Mississippi said that Perez had been arrested on outstanding warrants related to the kidnapping case. She was arrested while “visiting a casino located in Tunica County.”

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