Arrest made in 2011 South Bend manslaughter

St. Joseph County Metro Homicide says they have made another arrest in connection with a murder from 2011.

Police say they arrested a man for murder, felony murder and robbery in connection with the death of 31-year-old Dietrich Perkins.

He was arrested around 8 Friday night near Portage and Cleveland roads in South Bend. Police are not releasing the man's name.

Metro Homicide based this new arrest on information from a plea deal earlier Friday. The suspect arrested Friday night will be arraigned on Monday or Tuesday. 

Perkins, of Hammond, was shot and killed near the corner of Lathrop and Johnson streets in April of 2011. At the time of his death, he was wanted in Elkhart for dealing drugs.

Also charged in Perkins' death are Bryant Hunt, 28, Mitchell Thomas, 20, Sylvester Garner, 20, and Forest Lamar, 18.

Thomas was charged with attempted murder; Hunt with felony murder and attempted robbery; Garner with aiding in murder; and Lamar with assisting a criminal.

MORE INFORMATION: Most recent South Bend Tribune report – dated December 8, 2011

Two South Bend suspects arrested Monday after a standoff with police in Chicago have been charged in the murder of Dietrich Perkins.

Prosecutors on Wednesday hit Sylvester Garner and Forest Lamar with felony counts of participating in the Nov. 18 shooting death of the 31-year-old Perkins near the corner of Lathrop and Johnson streets.

Garner, 20, was charged with a single count of aiding in murder and is being held without bond.

Lamar, 18, faces a count of assisting a criminal, a Class C felony. His bond was set at $ 500,000 corporate surety or $ 50,000 cash.

On Tuesday, St. Joseph County prosecutors charged Bryant Hunt, 28, of South Bend, with one count each of murder and attempted robbery.

Hunt, who is being held without bond, was also charged Tuesday with auto theft for allegedly stealing his ex-girlfriend's Chrysler Pacifica in August.

All three suspects were arrested Monday in Chicago following a six-hour armed standoff with police and federal agents that shut down some of the city's train lines during rush hour.

The standoff involved Illinois State Police, Chicago police, federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and members of the St. Joseph County Metro Homicide squad.

It ended peacefully when Hunt, Garner and Lamar were taken into custody.

All three suspects remain in jail in Chicago.

Hunt and Lamar have waived extradition and are scheduled to be transported back to South Bend, according to a spokesperson for the St. Joseph County prosecutor's office.

Prosecutors are also expected to begin extradition proceedings in an effort to get Garner returned to South Bend.

A fourth suspect, Mitchell Thomas, was charged last week with att! empted murder in connection with the Perkins manslaughter.

Thomas, 20, was released from St. Joseph County Jail after posting $ 10,000 bond.

Prosecutors charged in the case's probable cause affidavit that Hunt, Garner and a third unidentified suspect planned to rob Perkins during an alleged drug deal.

In a taped conversation with a confidential informant, Hunt allegedly recounted telling Perkins, "I heard you got some pills ... why don't you link up with me ... get me some of those pills," according to the charging affidavit.

During the same conversation, Hunt allegedly admitted to the informant that he killed Perkins during a dispute, saying, "'cuz' shot the (bleep)," and, "I bailed out behind him ... I put like 10 in the (bleep)."

An investigator who spoke with Garner following his arrest in Chicago stated in the affidavit that Garner rode in a Range Rover driven by Hunt with "another individual ... carrying handguns and were looking to purchase" Ecstasy when they met with Perkins inside the vehicle in an alley near the corner of Johnson and Lathrop.

"Garner ... was not aware that the third person would shoot (Perkins)," the investigator stated in the affidavit.

When Perkins attempted to flee the vehicle, Garner "aided the third person by reaching over and attempting to grab the victim. However, as (Garner) began reaching towards the victim, the third person fired once again," Garner told the investigator.

Perkins was able to get out of the car, but Hunt and the third suspect allegedly caught the victim then shot him "repeatedly," according to the affidavit.

Although Garner claimed they did not plan to rob Perkins, prosecutors charged that the victim's South Bend residence was burglarized the same night he was gunned down.

Investigators continue to search for "additional ! persons of interest" in the case.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Metro Homicide at 574-235-5009.

Staff writer Jeff Harrell:
jharrell@sbtinfo.com
574-235-6368

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