State turns investigative findings in fatal police shooting of Stephen Perkins over to prosecutors

State turns investigative findings in fatal police shooting of Stephen Perkins over to prosecutors

The criminal investigation into the deadly shooting of Stephen Perkins by Decatur police is complete.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency on Tuesday announced state investigators have turned their findings over to the Morgan County District Attorney’s Office.

Senior Trooper Brandon Bailey said the file was submitted to prosecutors on Tuesday. He did not disclose any of those findings.

Efforts to reach officials at the district attorney’s office and the attorney for the Perkins family were not immediately successful.

Decatur police officers shot and killed the 39-year-old Perkins Sept. 29 in his front yard at the 3900 Block of Ryan Drive.

The police said they were there because Perkins threatened a tow truck driver with a gun and later turned a gun on an officer.

An initial police report said Perkins refused to comply when the police asked him to drop the weapon.

Police Chief Todd Pinion later apologized, saying the initial report mischaracterized what happened and that it was wrong to say Perkins refused to drop his gun.

Home camera footage of the deadly shooting appeared to show that the police were out of sight when Perkins told the tow truck driver to drop the truck that morning before a police officer appeared to come from the corner of the house, told Perkins to get to the ground and immediately shot him.

Protesters have marched frequently in the city since the night of the shooting, demanding the firing, arrest and prosecution of the officers.

Decatur Mayor Tab Bowling earlier this month announced that three officers were fired and a fourth suspended for their involvement in the shooting death of Perkins.

The officers involved have been identified as Bailey Marquette, Christopher Mukkadam, Joey Williams and Vance Summers. The officers are appealing the disciplinary action.

A lawsuit identified Marquette as the officer who shot Perkins.