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Police believe robbery was Harris’ motive in Perkins murder
By Joe Gorman
youngstown
A 16-year-old South Side boy has been charged in Mahoning County Juvenile Court in an Oct. 28 homicide on the South Side.
Damarrea Harris, who has an Idora Avenue address, is charged with the death of David T. Perkins, 23, of Higley Avenue in Niles.
Perkins was found lying dead in the driveway of a vacant 266 Hilton Ave. home about 9:20 a.m. Oct. 29. Coroner’s officials said he had been shot in the back.
Harris had been arrested last week on a stolen-property charge, Youngstown Police Chief Rod Foley said. Harris has past incidents including aggravated robbery and burglary, he said.
Foley said detectives are trying to figure out how the paths of Perkins and the juvenile had crossed. Although Idora Avenue also is on the South Side, it is quite a distance from Hilton Avenue, he said.
“We’re not sure yet how they hooked up,” Foley said.
Foley said investigators believe Perkins was killed during an attempted robbery.
Perkins’ car also was missing at the time his body was discovered. It was found Oct. 30 near East High Avenue in a wooded area off Ella Street.
Perkins was not identified until the day after his body was found, when a group of his friends had become concerned after seeing news reports of a body being found and the description.
Foley said detectives are still investigating to see if anyone else was involved in Perkins’ death. He credited the lead investigator on the case, Detective Sgt. Darryl Martin, for the work he was able to do to lead to the arrest and the charge Wednesday.