Édgar Morales Pérez was born into an entrepreneur family, and studied at Civil Engineering at the Instituto Tecnológico de Matehuala. Upon graduation, he began working for Constructions Tribasa, a construction company that allowed him to participate in several infrastructure projects in Mexico and Guatemala. He then created his own construction company and began offering services to the municipality of Matehuala. He became popular in Matehuala for financing sport events and dance contests. In early 2012, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) recruited Morales Pérez and proposed him for the municipal candidacy. He was survived by his wife, Noelia Cortez de Morales, and his three children. On August 12, 2012, Morales Pérez and his campaign manager, Juan Francisco Hernández Colunga, were driving home from a quinceañera party at around 1:45 a.m. when several gunmen ambushed them in the streets of the city of Matehuala, San Luis Potosí. The ambush took place just 60 meters away from the party, when two white Honda vehicles carrying a total of nine gunmen shot at Morales Pérez’s vehicle after they tried to get away. Both of them died at the scene, while Claudia Martínez de Hernández, the wife of Hernández Colunga and the only living witness, was gravely injured and was taken to the nearest hospital; she could not identify the perpetrators. The Mexican authorities received the emergency call of the attack at around 2:00 a.m. and went to the scene, but Édgar Morales Pérez was found dead in the back seat of the car, while his campaign manager died in the driver’s seat. More than 100 .223 and 7.62 mm caliber shells were found at the crime scene. The killers were not found but the Mexican authorities indicated that Los Zetas were the probable perpetrators of the attack. The mass ceremony and burial of Édgar Morales Pérez and his campaign manager were held on August 13. More than 1,000 people attended the ceremony, including local politicians and former mayors of Matehuala. After the mass was over, a mariachi group played songs in memory of Morales Pérez and Hernández Colunga outside the chapel where the mass was held as their coffins were taken to Jardines de la Luz cemetery.