Three shootings, three victims and just three hours between them. Nineteen-year-old Anthony Perry was reportedly trying to leave trouble behind, but violence found him just steps from home. Perry had only set out to visit a relative when a burst of gunfire brought that routine trip to a deadly end. As he lay wounded on the street where he lived, his girlfriend rushed to his side and held him during his final moments. Police suspect the shooting is connected to a longstanding rivalry in the community, but Perry’s loved ones remember a young man who was making an effort to change his life. Tonight, they are sharing their heartbreak and the painful details of his final moments. Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
“On Wednesday evening, nineteen-year-old Anthony Perry left home to go see a relative. He only made it a couple hundred feet away from his house before he was met with gunfire. This is where he took his last breath.”
Perry’s girlfriend, Allyssa Teul, spoke with News Five off camera.
Voice of: Allyssa Teul
Voice of: Allyssa Teul, Girlfriend of Deceased
“Actually, two ah we mih the cook together. He told me, right now he the come back. He run around the lane at his cousin. By the time I come outside, his aunty ask me, dah Version down there? The only thing I could do was just run. I neva expect to see him on the ground like that.”
Perry had barely left his home when gunshots shattered the calm in Port Loyola. The nineteen-year-old was struck on the very street where he lived, as his girlfriend rushed desperately to his side.
Voice of: Allyssa Teul
“Ih hurt yes. I have been with him for three years. All the memories we share it just hurt me to see him down there like that. The last breath he take, I told him just be strong. He let me down big time. I never expect it. Nobody expect it. Who know him, I wont say he is innocent, he does his stuff. But, who know him, he is a loving person, he is literally the life of the party.”
A police investigation has since been launched. According to Assistant Commissioner of Police Hilberto Romero, Perry’s murder stems from an ongoing rivalry in the neighborhood.
Hilberto Romero
ACP Hilberto Romero, Head, National Crimes Investigation Branch
“Upon arrival we learnt that a make person had been shot. He was identified as Anthony Perry. He received a gunshot injury. He was taken to the KHMH where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. Information is that Perry was walking in the area when he was approached by a male person who fired several shots at him. We are seeking two suspects and reviewing video footage in the area. This is an ongoing rivalry with persons in the Louis Bevans Area.”
ACP Romero says Perry had a criminal history and was well known to police. But his girlfriend says there was another side to his story. She acknowledges his troubled past, while insisting that he was taking steps to change his life. We also hear from his father, Anthony Perry Senior, who is now grieving the violent loss of his son.
Anthony Perry Sr.
Anthony Perry Sr., Father of Deceased
“I see three missed call and before I even get back fuh grab my phone, my big son the call again. He said, daddy they just kill version. I said they just kill version. He said, no daddy they just shot ah. When I get fuh find out my son get shot, brother that hurt me, brother that hurt me. Whoever do my son whatever they do my son. My son was just a person who is outspoken, respectable. Anybody could tell you what they want, my son for a fact never kill nobody in this life that I know bout. I know he fight down a lot of man, punch down a lot of man and he get in a lot of war because a lot of people want to try violate he. He feel like when he went to school everybody wants to bully him. So, when he turned a big guy he said, this day of bully done.”
As investigators hunt for the gunman and search for answers, a grieving family is left clinging to memories of the loved one they lost. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.
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