The widow of Stephen Perkins said that more than two months after Decatur police shot and killed him in their front yard, her children are still reeling from his death.

“It’s had a huge impact on them,” Catrela Perkins said at a conference in Huntsville today. “My 7-year-old, she’s taking it the hardest because she doesn’t fully understand.”

Perkins, a 39-year-old husband, father, and gym enthusiast, died after a Decatur officer shot him on Sept. 29. On Thursday, Decatur Mayor Tab Bowling announced the termination of three officers and the suspension of a fourth officer, following an internal investigation. He did not release the officers’ names.

Speaking at the press conference today, Lee Merritt, attorney for the Perkins family, called for arrests and the release of the officers’ names. He also said the family plans to sue the city and the police in federal court.

“I believe it’s important to get all the names of the officers, their faces out the same way if any regular civilian had been accused of a crime. Their face makes the evening news so that other people who have had interactions with them can say, I’ve had a problem with this person before and they can report it to the proper authorities,” he said.

The officers have not been arrested. Separately from Decatur’s internal investigation, which found the police violated department policies, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency continues to investigate the shooting and whether the police committed any crimes.

“A part of doing a full and complete investigation is publicizing the names and charges of these men. And failure to do so is, again, putting your finger on the scales of justice in favor of law enforcement. So it is very important to us that those names be produced,” Merritt said.

Police said that on the night of the shooting, Stephen Perkins had threatened a tow truck driver with a gun. The driver left but later returned to Perkins’ house with police. Home camera recordings from the neighborhood do not show the police make their presence known by knocking on Perkins’ door, turning on the police car lights, or blaring their sirens.

Video footage shows Perkins come out of his home with a bright light about 2 a.m. and tell the tow truck driver to put down his vehicle. On the video a police officer appears to emerge from a dark corner near the house, shouting “Hey, hey, police, get on the ground.” The officer immediately fired multiple rounds, the video shows.

“I mean, it’s hard for adults to even wrap their heads around what actually happened,” Catrela Perkins told news reporters today.

She added that her daughter has asked, “Mommy, why didn’t they just knock on the door?’

“So the 7-year-old can think logically like that, why can’t adults?” Perkins’ widow said.

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

Merritt said Scott Anderson, the Morgan County District Attorney, should speedily present the case to the grand jury to charge the officers.

He pointed out that in the two months since the shooting, the city has already completed an internal investigation and gone through the disciplinary process with the officers.

And while Merritt acknowledged that the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency investigation is ongoing, he said that “justice delayed is justice denied.”

“… it’s time to get this case before a grand jury so this family can be given the relief and the satisfaction of knowing that these men will also be held criminally accountable,” Merritt said.

“This family does not want to continue to wait two months, three months after the murder of their loved ones, to know if anyone’s going to be held accountable,” he added.

Catrela Perkins said that all four officers involved in the shooting should have been fired.

“I feel like they all should have been terminated,” she said.

“I’m still hurt.”