The Murder of Tabatha Tozzi

Episode 73 - The Murder of Tabatha Tozzi: 

Tabatha Tozzi was a rising star in Las Vegas. When she tried to leave her controlling boyfriend, he allegedly killed her. Nearly two years later, he’s still missing.

Las Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world, with A-list performers lighting up the strip every night of the week. In clubs all over town, large and small, every night is a party, and your hosts work hard to keep the drinks flowing and to make sure you feel like a VIP. 

For one Las Vegas model and entertainer, her boyfriend’s admiration quickly became obsession and jealousy. An argument after a night out turned deadly, and Tabatha’s loved ones have been searching for justice ever since. Tabatha's story is another tragic tale of domestic violence in Las Vegas. In this episode, the pursuit of justice takes center stage. 

[Shaun] 

Hi and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence, as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I’m your host, Shaun

[John] 

And I’m your co-host, John

[Shaun] 

It’s been nearly two years since Tabatha Tozzi was murdered. In that time, her friends and family have been working diligently to keep her story in the public eye.  They’ve called attention to the alarming number of domestic violence homicides in Las Vegas

By August of 2023, it was reported that domestic violence homicides were up 85% in Las Vegas from 2022, and we’ve often talked about how Las Vegas often ranks in the top 10 for domestic violence homicide rates.

So do you want to start us off?

[John] 

Sure. As the second anniversary of Tabatha Tozzi’s murder approaches,  we again want to highlight her case. She was murdered by her boyfriend Oswaldo Natanahel Perez-Sanchez in April 2023.

Tabatha was born on June 21st, 1996, making her 26 when she was murdered. According to her mom’s Instagram, she was born in Japan, but we also found some sources that said she was originally from Sao Paolo, Brazil. Regardless though, Tabatha moved here to Las Vegas from Los Angeles when she was about 8 years old.

Her mom’s name is Regina Lacerda, and Tabatha was her only child. Regina raised her as a single mom, with the help of her grandmother. Tabatha was the main source of income for her family, and we learned she even helped support her grandma who lives in Brazil, and unfortunately has Dementia.

Her mom was quoted as saying “She was my life. She wasn't just my only daughter, she was my best friend.”

One of her teachers commented on her memorial website 

“I had the privilege of being Tabby's teacher in 7th and 8th grade. She was a beautiful soul, and I deeply cherished the time we spent together in English, Speech, and Debate. 

She had a fiery temperament, and I knew even then that she would grow up to be a spirited young woman. I was always proud of her ability to face challenges and adversity, and it is a true loss that she was taken from us so soon.”

[Shaun]

Tabatha was a graduate of Cimarron-Memorial High School here in Las Vegas the Northwest Valley and later graduated from Esthetician school. 

Tabatha was extremely popular (as you may have already guessed) and very well-liked. She worked in the Las Vegas club scene & had more than 37,000 followers on Instagram, and almost 3,800 friends on Facebook. She was a dog mom and enjoyed writing poetry which she often posted on her second Instagram account

She believed in looking out for people and giving back. She had a post on her Instagram where she was collecting donations to support homeless people… so you can see she really used her influencer status to help others.

Her very last Instagram post was her declaring her support for Brazil in the World Cup game. 

Her employer (Zai Las Vegas on Fremont Street) issued a statement after her murder saying, “Tabatha was an integral part of our team, and she will never be forgotten.”

We have a ton of quotes from people about her so we’ll share some of those

One of her friends described her by saying “If you saw her, you saw light.”

Other things people said about her include that she was very kind, very loving, peaceful, inspirational to her friends, supportive, and empowering. Beautiful inside and out. And was described as “A real-life guardian angel. “ (that recurring theme of watching out for others)

[John] 

In addition to her mother and thousands of friends and fans, Tabatha is being mourned by her chihuahua Lulu, who, following Tabatha’s death reportedly was sitting at the door waiting for her mom to come home

Regarding her alleged murderer Oswaldo Natanahel Perez-Sanchez. Of course, Perez-Sanchez is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but as we’ll talk about in a bit Tabatha was with a friend of hers when this all went down who witnessed the whole thing firsthand

We dont know that much about him, but Perez-Sanchez goes by “Nate”. He was born May 16th, 1996, so he’ll be turning 29 in May of 2025. He was 26 at the time of the murder.

Looking into his history, we discovered that he has an uncontested divorce listed in the family court records, prior to meeting Tabatha and he has also demonstrated that he was extremely obsessed with Tabatha.

In several of the photos we’ll share you'll see that he has a tattoo of Tabatha’s face, and he got that before they started dating, which seems like extremely unstable behavior. 

It DOES make him easier to identify though, so as I said we’ll be sure to keep sharing the photos of him and include that one

We don’t know a lot about their relationship because most of her social media posts were focused on her extremely successful modeling career. 

We DO know that Tabatha called her mother and a friend on the morning of Saturday, April 22nd to say that she was “trying to get away from her boyfriend” (Perez-Sanchez)

Her mother said in an interview with Channel 13 News that they had a turbulent relationship and Tabatha was done with him.

[Shaun]

In that same interview with Channel 13, Tabatha’s mom said that the day before the murder, Tabatha said to her, 'Mom, I'm not happy. I'm trying to break up with him but I'm afraid"

When Regina asked her what she was afraid of she replied that she was afraid of Ozwaldo, and what he might do. Regeina’s reply was… “Are you afraid of what he’ll do to himself, or to you?”

Tabatha’s friends told Channel 3 news that they didn’t know a lot about Tabatha’s boyfriend because they’d been dating for less than eight months. 

One friend said she respected Tabatha’s judgment and that they didn’t feel like they needed to press her that she needed to leave him. 

Her friends also believe that Perez-Sanchez was obsessed with Tabatha and very jealous – which is clear from the tattoo he got of her face before they even started dating. 

One friend had said it was more obsession than love and that he didn't want to share her and her light with the world. 

Another friend said that she felt that there were warning signs that their relationship was abusive or potentially abusive. She said that Tabatha was not able to go out when she wanted to and that she had to be on speaker when she was talking on the phone with friends, two very common signs of a controlling and abusive relationship.

[John]

On Saturday, April 22nd, 2023, around 11 am Tabatha and a friend were returning from a fun night out. According to that friend who wanted to remain anonymous, they were on the 8100 block of Leger Drive, just west of South Cimmaron and north of Alta Drive in North Las Vegas when they were confronted by Perez-Sanchez, who was wildly jealous about Tabatha being out.

Their argument quickly escalated into a screaming match.

Her friend said that Tabatha was trying to get out of her car, but Perez Sanchez wouldnt let her, and he had taken her keys. Shortly after that he pulled out a gun and shot Tabitha in the head.

She said that he then walked up to her car, pointed the gun at her, and demanded she get out of her car. She left her car, of course, and rushed over to Tabatha to help while Perez-Sanchez sped away.

She said that at first, she didn't know where Tabatha had been shot. She couldn't tell, but she called for 911 help and told the operator that Tabatha was still alive, gasping for air, and fighting for life. 

They waited 10 minutes for the police to arrive. 10 minutes that Perez Sanchez had to flee the scene and start his life as a fugitive avoiding accountability.

Tabatha was taken to UMC Trauma and put on life support. She died on Monday night, two days later with about a dozen friends and loved ones at her bedside.

Her family honored her request to be an organ donor, and according to her family, her organs potentially saved dozens of lives.

[Shaun]

Given everything we’ve learned about Tabatha, I wasn't a bit surprised to learn she was also an organ donor. 

After the shooting, Regina shared that that morning she received a terrifying call from Tabatha asking her mom to come and pick her up.

Detectives investigating her murder also confirmed what her friend had described,  that Tabatha had been in an argument with Perez Sanchez before being shot, and during that argument, he took out a firearm and shot her, fleeing the scene before police arrived. 

On Tabatha’s GoFundMe - Regina described what happened that morning. She says “I raced over in a panic & when I arrived at the scene, it was the worst thing any mother could imagine. My daughter had been shot by the man who claimed to love her and whom I trusted with her, the one who was my entire world. She is all I had left and my heart is completely shattered.”

Regina later said "My heart said that something was very wrong. I didn’t make it. I couldn't make it there on time to save my daughter," 

The podcast, The Murder Diaries, interviewed Regina about Tabatha on their podcast episode on September 19, 2024, and we recommend you listen to that interview at sinspod.co/regina. Natalie and Paige did an incredible job like always, so please check it out. 

[John]

On May 2nd, 2023 the Clark County Coroner announced that her death was indeed a homicide, to no one’s surprise, and on May 2nd, LVMPD announced that Perez Sanchez was a person of interest, nearly TWO WEEKS after the crime.

It's shocking to us that Metro took so long to identify him as a person of interest because they HAD an eyewitness to the events.  By doing that they ensured it would be much harder to find him because he had a two-week head start.

One of Tabatha’s friends said that when she heard that his name had been released as a suspect she cried happy tears because at least they were finally looking for him.

Two years later he has still not been located. He’s still at large and is wanted for her murder, whereabouts unknown. Charges include open murder with the use of a deadly weapon, coercion constituting domestic violence with the threat of physical force, robbery with the use of a deadly weapon (for stealing Tabatha’s friend’s car which he used in his escape), and of course grand larceny of a motor vehicle.

It’s possible he’s in California, or even Mexico as it was rumored. He has several very recognizable tattoos including the one of Tabatha’s face, and we will continue to public his photo

In 2023, Her family held a vigil in the weeks after her murder, in May, her loved ones packed into her funeral with another candlelight vigil and gathered in a local park to celebrate her life. Her funeral was open to the public and was standing-room only.

Her friends and family have not stopped working hard to keep the case in the news, and Perez Sanchez’s face out there in the hope someone will recognize him and turn him in. 

As of 2025, the FBI has him listed on their most wanted site. You can see the FBI’s wanted poster by visiting Sinspod.co/nate and see that The FBI is offering a reward of up to $30,000 for information leading to his arrest. 

The US Marshals always have his wanted posted on their website, and you can see that at https://sinspod.co/usmarshal. The US Marshals have a separate $3500 reward for information leading to his arrest.

[Shaun]

On October 22nd, 2023 her friends and family held a peaceful protest because Oswaldo had not been located. They gathered out front of Metro’s headquarters to draw attention to Tabatha’s case and ask for an update. 

Her friends and family have expressed intense frustration because not only did it take the police 10 minutes to get there while Tabatha was bleeding and dying, but it took 10 days before Perez Sanchez was named as a suspect. 

At the event, Regina said that she knows the protest and his arrest and conviction won’t bring Tabatha back, but they feel its important to honor Tabatha’s memory and seek justice for her

Regina also said “I'm going to fight until my last breath. I'm going to be here, fighting for justice."

Her friends and family are demanding that Perez Sanchez turn himself in and are pleading with anyone who might be helping him or hiding him to come forward and do the right thing. 

Many of them have expressed how his arrest would take a weight off of their shoulders, particularly Regina’s shoulders, and the Las Vegas community at large. 

Tabatha's family and friends have also spoken about their desire to raise awareness of domestic violence-related killings in light of her death, and domestic violence in general, encouraging women to find a trusted person or resource to go to for help. 

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Metro Police statistics, the number of homicides in Clark County in 2024 was the lowest it has been since 2019. However, Metro has stated that domestic violence remains the leading cause of murder in our community. 

Clark County includes the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and Henderson. North Las Vegas saw their domestic violence homicides actually increase at a statistically significant rate,  from 9 victims to 15 victims, making more than half of the murders in North Las Vegas domestic violence-related. 

Meanwhile, Henderson police said they did not classify any of their 10 homicides in 2024 as domestic violence slayings “although many involved individuals shared a domestic relationship with the suspect.”

I can’t really make sense of that. 

On February 23rd, 2025, Tabatha’s family and friends had another protest at Metro’s headquarters, to continue to keep the spotlight on Tabatha and to urge our community to remain vigilant to report any information regarding Perez-Sanchez and his whereabouts. 

We stand with them and hope that they receive the answers and justice they deserve soon. 

[John]

We’ve posted and will continue to post photos of Perez-Sanchez along with his wanted poster.. Please share his photo, and mention his name because all it takes is for one person to recognize him to bring him in for her murder. 

Anyone with information should call Las Vegas Metro Police Homicide at 702-828-3521 or contact @crimestoppersofnevada 702-385-5555, or the Las Vegas FBI Field Office at (702) 385-1281

People can also contact the US Marshals at 1-877-WANTED2 or 1-877-926-8332, or you can submit tips using the US Marshal Service Tips App.

We should also emphasize that he is considered by both the FBI and the Marshal Service to be armed and dangerous and you should NOT approach or confront him yourself. If you see him, call one (or more) of the numbers to report him

We hold out hope as they do that he will be located eventually. Another case we covered that has some similarities was the murder of Lesly Palacio by Erick Rangel Ibarra. In that case, Ibarra fled to Mexico and was hiding out for nearly 4 years before he was apprehended with the help of Mexican authorities. 

All it takes is for one person to recognize him, and the Tozzi family can finally have their chance for Perez Sanchez to answer for his crimes, and to get justice for Tabatha.

We’ll share the link to the Tabatha Tozzi Facebook page in the show notes, and of course, her friends and family would appreciate it if you would like the page, and share the information about Tabatha’s case. 

In the meantime, please check out our show notes on www.sinsandsurvivors.com, share the information about Tabatha’s case, and share the Most Wanted Poster for Ozwaldo. He is out there somewhere. We will continue to share updates on the case, and hopefully be able to tell you he’d been apprehended soon.

Thanks again for listening and sharing because what happens here, happens everywhere