A grand jury has indicted a white Alabama former police officer for the fatal shooting of a Black man outside his home after the cop had been called to monitor a dispute between the man and a repossession agent.
The grand jury determined that the evidence presented by Morgan County District Attorney Scott Anderson was sufficient to charge Mac Bailey Marquette, 23, with murder for gunning down Stephen Perkins on Sept. 29, 2023, authorities announced on Jan. 5.
Officers Joey Williams, Vance Summers, and Christopher Mukkadam were working with Marquette on that early morning call in Decatur, Alabama.
While there were a total of four officers at the scene of the shooting, the decision to only charge Marquette was made because he was the sole individual to discharge his weapon during the incident.
Decatur Mayor Tab Bowling terminated three of the officers and placed another on suspension in December 2023, and since then, all of the officers have filed appeals. The hearings to see if the officers can return to their jobs are scheduled from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2.
“There were four officers at the scene when this incident occurred, and there was only one officer who fired any shot,” Anderson said, according to CNN. “After having considered all of the facts and evidence in the case, the grand jury agreed unanimously that there were no violations with regards to the laws of the state of Alabama against any other officer.”
Now, Marquette will stand trial and be held criminally responsible for the loss of the 39-year-old’s life.
Perkins’ vehicle was being repossessed by a towing company when the officers were called to his Decatur house. Repossessions are a civil matter, and under Alabama law, the officers were not allowed to assist the tow truck driver in his effort.
In the initial reports about the incident, officers noted that the confrontation started at 1:30 a.m. and that when they arrived, he was threatening the tow truck driver…
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