Former Decatur police officer charged in Stephen Perkins death

[Auburn85 432]

https://www.al.com/news/2024/01/former-decatur-police-officer-charged-in-stephen-perkins-death.html

 

 

Quote

 

Updated: Jan. 05, 2024

 

By

• Kayode Crown | kcrown@al.com

Following months of protest and civic unrest, authorities in north Alabama charged a Decatur police officer in the shooting and killing Stephen Perkins in his front yard.

 

Morgan County District Attorney Scott Anderson announced on Friday that Bailey Marquette was indicted on a murder charge. Marquette was fired from the Decatur police force in early December, a little over two months after the fatal shooting.

Marquette, 23 of Hartselle, was taken into custody Thursday by Sheriff Ron Puckett at the Morgan County Jail, the sheriff’s office announced. He was booked on $30,000 bond and he bonded out soon after his booking this morning.

 

 

“This was not an easy thing to do. It was not easy for the grand jury and it was not easy for me,” Anderson said.

 

Anderson said the 18 member grand jury was a “good representation of Morgan County, consisting of eight men, 10 women, 15 of them white, and three Black, and ranging in age from 30 to 78.

 

 

“They come from all walks of life. There’s retirees, professionals, plant workers, there was a stay-at-home mom, members of the clergy, nurses and teachers,” Anderson said.

 

 

“They were from all over Morgan County...and they were charged with a very tough task and they rose to that occasion. They all took an oath to seek the truth and do justice and to show no partiality or favor between the powerful and the weak, the rich and the poor,” Anderson said.

Anderson said he is not releasing body camera footage because of its importance in the trial but would grant the family to see it.

 

 

“Our community as a whole has suffered,” Anderson said. The shooting has prompted multiple protests.

 

 

Three other officers fired or suspended by Decatur and named in a federal lawsuit, Christopher Mukkadam, Joey Williams, and Vance Summers, were not indicted. The officers have appealed those actions by the city, as has Marquette.

Anderson said the grand jury found the other three officers did not violate the law. “I agree completely,” Anderson said.

 

 

“I understand fully that there are some of our community that think there should have been more than one officer charged in this situation. There’s also some who think that no one who should have been charged,” Anderson said.

 

 

Only the grand jury know all the facts of the case, Anderson said.

 

 

On the night of his Sept. 29 death, police have said, Perkins had a gun and threatened a tow truck driver who was trying to repossess his vehicle. The tow truck driver left but returned later with police, who shot and killed Perkins, a 39-year-old husband, father, and gym enthusiast.

 

 

Perkins’ family has continued to demand justice and sued the city, the officer involved in his death, the tow truck company, and the vehicle finance company.

The federal lawsuit alleges excessive force, wrongful death, civil rights violations, and unfair debt collection practices.

Catrela Perkins, who is Stephen Perkins’ widow, said that the $30,000 bond for Marquette was too low.

“I mean, a 30, 000 bond for murder? Come on. That’s ridiculous,” she told AL.com after the announcement of the indictment. “I see other people who have gotten murder charges, bonds are like $300,000. You are talking about a $30,000 bond for murder. I’m not happy about that.”

 

 

Catrela Perkins was at the press conference this morning at the Morgan County DA’s office for the indictment’s announcement.

 

 

Perkins died after being shot in his front yard. Security camera footage released by the Perkins family showed that it was dark outside when Perkins walked out into his yard while shining a light and shouted for the tow truck driver to put his vehicle down. Police appeared and an officer shouted for Perkins to get on the ground. A split second later, 18 gunshots rang out.

 

 

 

[DKW 86 7,451]

Too much to say here in one post. This case has torn some of my hometown to bits. Steve was shot 7X by one officer without being given a chance to disarm himself. 

I knew Steve from the gym. From time to time I think he worked out the Chief of Police. The three idiots there that night broke multiple direct orders to stay away and then broke DPD guidelines multiple more times. One man, Marquette, is likely going to prison for some time, I will guess 5-7 years or more. He was out of control and Steve got killed ALLEGEDLY over a repo gone bad. 

Some tow truck operators never have a gun pulled on them and never have to call a cop. And now a really nice family man that everyone on this forum would like to know is dead over a gunslinger cop. This will not end well. The protests have been all-in-all done well. But there should never have been a need for this. The police were never supposed to be there. They outflanked Steve on two sides and never went to the door as they were supposed to. Basically, everyone here in Decatur uses the word 'ambush' on this. With the words: "get on the...bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang" Steve took 7 bullets. He survived until he died in Huntsville Hospital or on the way. It's been 60+ days now and no one has yet to see the body cam footage nor read the "took wwwaaayyy too f'in long" ALEA report even now. 

Three Cops Terminated
Another Suspended
One of the three was indicted for murder. 
The widow and her kids were destroyed. 
The payout for the wife I bet reaches $3M+
Not one of Steve's white neighbors thinks it was a good shoot. NOT ONE.
Steve was always smiling and joking and loved by everybody. He was the fun in the gym when he was there.
This not Black versus White nor Black versus Cop. It is Decatur Versus Incompetence of three officers.

 

Edited January 6 by DKW 86

[DKW 86 7,451]

https://whnt.com/news/decatur/stephen-perkins/morgan-county-da-calls-press-conference-in-perkins-case/

[homersapien 11,464]

1) Do police applicants generally undergo psychological screening?  If not, they should.

2) Devil is in the details, which are largely absent at this point. I'd like to follow this trial.

[DKW 86 7,451]

I am sure the trial will be very loudly played out on the Internet. The family has a gofundme for income and financing the lawsuit. Scott Anderson, the DA, is very Cop friendly. But he sees what most of us see, the police should never have been there. 

The officers were told they were not authorized to be there. The DPD requires a Court order to be present for a Repo. There was no Court Order. As soon as the Chief of police found there was no CO, it has been all downhill since then. The sergeant that night told these clowns that if they go to park in front of Perkin's home with lights on, go to the door. They parked down the block with the lights off, and did not go to the door. One of the officers tried to move his car to where they were told to have them if they did show up. He T-Boned the Captain as he pulled up. AWKWARD. There are 1000 details. The Repo company was out of MS and had a name similar to a local company. Did the Repo company have the right guy? Right Address? That local guy is almost out of business over this. The idiot cops allowed the truck to get towed before the Ambulance came, thereby literally compromising the crime scene. WTH?

Error after error. Incompetence everywhere. The whole town was pissed about the police being more concerned with the Repo than in following their own procedures or getting Steve an ambulance. The family used the truck in the Christmas Parade to pull their float. Talk about awkward. 

Edited January 9 by DKW 86

[homersapien 11,464]

I meant details like: Was the victim displaying a weapon at the time he was shot?

 

Edited January 8 by homersapien

[cole256 17,084]

Nothing will happen, but what's more telling that nobody really will admit, 98% on here don't care.

[CoffeeTiger 5,185]

This cop gets arrested for unloading a round into an innocent man and he can't help but smirk like a douche in his mugshot photo. 

[DKW 86 7,451]

On 1/8/2024 at 5:34 AM, cole256 said:

Nothing will happen, but what's more telling that nobody really will admit, 98% on here don't care.

The three are fired. Marquette is likely facing hard jail time, but likely not many years. Decatur is being forced to deal with reality. These Cops should NEVER have been there. The Cops broke about 10-12 DPD guidelines and 2-3 direct orders from their supervisor. Some way over-the-top gunslinging cowboy Cops lead to a good man getting killed. 

Edited January 9 by DKW 86

[DKW 86 7,451]

20 hours ago, CoffeeTiger said:

This cop gets arrested for unloading a round into an innocent man and he can't help but smirk like a douche in his mugshot photo. 

Yes Sir. He unloaded a whole clip at Steve, without ever allowing him to disarm.

[DKW 86 7,451]

On 1/7/2024 at 9:04 PM, homersapien said:

I meant details like: Was the victim displaying a weapon at the time he was shot?

Yep. Like about 85-90% of this forum, he had a weapon on him thinking someone was trying to steal his truck. 

Marquette unloaded a whole clip at Steve, without ever allowing him a chance to disarm.

[cole256 17,084]

18 minutes ago, DKW 86 said:

The three are fired. Marquette is likely facing hard jail time, but likely not many years. Decatur is being forced to deal with reality. These Cops should NEVER have been there. The Cops broke about 10-12 DPD guidelines and 2-3 direct orders from their supervisor. Some way over-the-top gunslinging cowboy Cops lead to a good man getting killed. 

They are fired and probably go 15 minutes down the road at get hired at Moulton or Cortland and get hired. We'll see what happens at this guys sentencing.....I grew up in this area, I know how corrupt these places are, but thinking you can hold them accountable?? These smaller communities? Good luck. 15 minutes northwest is where they beat up the Indian grandfather and the case where they shot the suicidal man holding a gun to his head.

15 minutes west in Athens you had a case where the police captain couldn't take it anymore and blew the whole lid off of the department corruption, getting friends out of DUI, targeting other people, all of that. 

30 minutes south I have personal experience being kicked and tracked by Florence police. To this day I don't know if they thought I was somebody else or any of that. Also while traveling back and forth to Auburn when I was in college there's literally a thing in the African American community to not drive thru Moulton Cullman at night or you will end up in the back of a police car hand cuffed while your car is being searched..... 

I just don't think anything can be done about the police in small communities

[DKW 86 7,451]

1 hour ago, cole256 said:

They are fired and probably go 15 minutes down the road at get hired at Moulton or Cortland and get hired. We'll see what happens at this guys sentencing.....I grew up in this area, I know how corrupt these places are, but thinking you can hold them accountable?? These smaller communities? Good luck. 15 minutes northwest is where they beat up the Indian grandfather and the case where they shot the suicidal man holding a gun to his head.

15 minutes west in Athens you had a case where the police captain couldn't take it anymore and blew the whole lid off of the department corruption, getting friends out of DUI, targeting other people, all of that. 

30 minutes south I have personal experience being kicked and tracked by Florence police. To this day I don't know if they thought I was somebody else or any of that. Also while traveling back and forth to Auburn when I was in college there's literally a thing in the African American community to not drive thru Moulton Cullman at night or you will end up in the back of a police car hand cuffed while your car is being searched..... 

I just don't think anything can be done about the police in small communities

Brother, I dont defend nor deny any of that. But I think this was a huge wake-up call, at least in Decatur.

[cole256 17,084]

1 minute ago, DKW 86 said:

Brother, I dont defend nor deny any of that. But I think this was a huge wake-up call, at least in Decatur.

Maybe so. I guess we will see. Just knowing what I know.... You can see in his picture, he doesn't give a damn he took a life without cause. But I haven't lived there in a few years so I can't matter of factly so I know it to be so

[CoffeeTiger 5,185]

I know at least one Decatur city councilman, some 21 year old named Hunter Pepper, will be 100% behind these cops through the whole process. He's already publicly come out stating he's against any punishment for the officers and don't think they did anything wrong. 

 

Of course this same kid was anti-vaxx and anti-masking back during the pandemic, has gotten in trouble multiple different times trying to use his influence as a city councilman to get away with breaking rules or ordinances, and gets in fights on social media with people regularly. 

Decatur sure knows how to pick its leaders. 

[DKW 86 7,451]

8 hours ago, CoffeeTiger said:

I know at least one Decatur city councilman, some 21 year old named Hunter Pepper, will be 100% behind these cops through the whole process. He's already publicly come out stating he's against any punishment for the officers and don't think they did anything wrong. 

 

Of course this same kid was anti-vaxx and anti-masking back during the pandemic, has gotten in trouble multiple different times trying to use his influence as a city councilman to get away with breaking rules or ordinances, and gets in fights on social media with people regularly. 

Decatur sure knows how to pick its leaders. 

Pepper was an election fluke and we all know that. 

https://whnt.com/news/19-year-old-decatur-city-councilman-apologizes-for-social-media-post-that-said-he-would-run-over-protesters/

https://www.decaturdaily.com/news/morgan_county/decatur/jackson-calls-for-pepper-to-resign-over-racially-insensitive-2018-post/article_c599bf09-f36c-5eb3-aca6-7385fa7b9026.html

Our family knows Billy Jackson. He may be the next mayor of Decatur. Tab Bowling will not seek re-election.

[homersapien 11,464]

On 1/9/2024 at 8:06 AM, DKW 86 said:

Yep. Like about 85-90% of this forum, he had a weapon on him thinking someone was trying to steal his truck. 

Marquette unloaded a whole clip at Steve, without ever allowing him a chance to disarm.

That's not what I asked.  I asked if he was displaying a weapon, not if he had one on him.

[DKW 86 7,451]

5 hours ago, homersapien said:

That's not what I asked.  I asked if he was displaying a weapon, not if he had one on him.

We may never know. The video so far shows really nothing. The word from the police and the family are conradictory.