×

Watkins: Hubbard killer doesn’t deserve parole

A man convicted of killing his girlfriend in Hubbard in fall 1993 is up for parole next month, and for the third time since 2007, the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office is lobbying against his release from prison.

Alfonsia “Mickey” Perry, 65, was convicted of brutally beating Jeanette Purdue, 34, to death at a home on Rosser Avenue.

Also, he attacked three corrections officers at the Trumbull County jail.

He will be interviewed by a panel of three members from the Ohio Adult Parole Authority sometime in May outside his cell at Richland Correctional Institution in Mansfield.

Perry was convicted in November 1994 of aggravated murder, felonious assault and inciting violence and sentenced in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to 20 years to life.

In a letter penned by Prosecutor Dennis Watkins, Perry had previously been profiled as “a poster person for domestic violence.”

According to testimony at trial and eyewitness accounts from the victim’s two young children, Watkins wrote that Purdue was hit some 71 times with wooden bed slats and an ax handle. An 8-year-old boy stated: “Perry kept hitting her with the same stick and that’s when it broke and she fell on the bed.”

Her 6-year-old son said when he looked into the room: “Mickey hit my mom in the head with an ax and stick. Mickey pushed my mom outside and inside. He beat and killed her. She wasn’t breathing or moving.”

‘BROKE HER NECK’

Dispatch center reports show that on the night of the attack, a man called identifying himself as 36-year-old Mickey Perry, and in a very hyper voice said: “I think I killed my girlfriend. … I need an ambulance. … hurry. I think my baby, I think I broke her neck. … Hurry!”

A 2013 letter by Watkins states Perry ordered the victim to take off her clothes in order to inflict more pain by “striking her bare skin.”

While incarcerated awaiting trial on the murder, Watkins noted, Perry collected additional charges of felonious assault after three corrections officers were attacked at the Trumbull County jail. He also was charged with inciting violence in the rampage, Watkins said, in which he later pleaded guilty before Judge John Stuard.

Detective Michael Begeot found Perry while in jail to be “instantaneously angry and violent.” As lead detective in the murder case, Begeot portrayed Perry’s conduct as “monstrous” in what was done to the victim in front of young children.

The appeals of all his convictions were affirmed by the 11th District Court of Appeals.

“The truth weighs heavy in this case,” Watkins said.

Because of repeated “bad behaviors” in prison, Watkins writes that Perry suffers from an antisocial personality disorder and polysubstance dependence.

The prosecutor cites a report about the inmate compiled by Dr. Nancy Huntsman.

The report states at the time of his arrest, Perry was spending $200 to $500 every other day on drugs that he shared with friends.

Assistant Prosecutor Diane Barber previously had written the parole board, stating that this “raging bull should be kept in your pen and help keep domestic violence statistics down.”

Meanwhile, Laura E. Austen, deputy director, Policy and Outreach for the Office of the Ohio Public Defender, said she does not comment on pending parole cases for inmates.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $2.99/week.

Subscribe Today