Source: Family / GoFundMe
Stephen Perkins was gunned down by a police officer on Sept. 29, 2023, during an incident at his home involving an allegedly predatory repo company. The company in question was in the process of repossessing Perkins’ vehicle although his family says that they have receipts that prove that he was up to date on his payments. The tow truck driver called 911 to report that Perkins had threatened him with a firearm. When police arrived on the scene, Perkins’ cousin Marquinn Bergins, a former Decatur, Alabama police officer, said that the officer yelled commands while simultaneously shooting the 37-year-old.
At the time, that officer’s name was withheld from the public but that is no longer the case.
Source: Morgan County Sheriff’s Office / MCSO
According to CNN, 23-year-old Mac Bailey Marquette has been arrested after a grand jury indicted him for the murder of Stephen Perkins on that fateful night. Marquette was one of three officers fired over the fatal shooting, however, the other two officers have yet to face criminal charges.
Initial police reports stated that Perkins “refused” to drop his weapon but Police Chief Todd Pinion has retracted that statement and made a public correction via Facebook that speaks to Marquette’s violation of department protocol.
“We now know the officer identified themselves as ‘police’ and ordered Mr. Perkins to ‘get on the ground’ prior to the officer firing rather than ordering him to drop the weapon at that time as we initially reported the morning of the shooting,” Pinion said in a social media post October 11.
“That means that we also erred in stating Mr. Perkins ‘refused’ to drop his firearm prior to the shooting. I apologize for the inaccurate description of the encounter in our initial statement,” Pinion’s post reads.
You can read the statement in full in the post below.
While the family is encouraged that true accountability is forthcoming, they are not resting on their laurels at the news of Marquette’s indictment.
Nicholas Perkins, the brother of Stephen Perkins, told CNN that the family is “glad for this baby step of justice, but this is not the end,” and the family will pursue federal action against the other officers.
“There were four officers involved and we would like to see all four charged with something,” Perkins said.
We hope that the Perkins family and all of Stephen’s loved ones get the healing and justice that they so richly deserve.
