The Vermilion County jail inmate who was fatally shot after attacking and injuring a sheriff’s deputy at the courthouse on Friday had a long and violent criminal history.
Vermilion County Coroner Jane McFadden late this morning identified the inmate as Daryl L. Perkins, 55, of Hoopeston.
McFadden said an autopsy was performed on Saturday, but details aren’t being released because the investigation by Illinois State Police and her office is ongoing.
The incident occurred at 10:06 a.m. Friday in the holding-cell area of the courthouse, at the corner of North Vermilion and Main streets in downtown Danville.
According to sheriff’s Capt. Mike Hartshorn, the deputy was moving Mr. Perkins between holding cells. When the deputy opened the door of a cell, Mr. Perkins attacked him and stabbed him in the face multiple times.
Then the deputy discharged his firearm and struck Mr. Perkins, Hartshorn said. Both men were taken to OSF Sacred Heart Medical Center in Danville for treatment.
The deputy has not been identified.
Mr. Perkins was in jail awaiting trial on a long list of charges stemming from a June 25 incident. In July, he was charged and later indicted on one count each of aggravated domestic battery, felony possession/use of a firearm, aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated battery-great bodily harm, aggravated battery-deadly use of a weapon and two counts of domestic battery (subsequent offenses).
At the time, he had been on parole following his release from the Illinois Department of Corrections for a 2015 residential burglary conviction in Vermilion County.
On Friday, Mr. Perkins — who had been ordered to wear a GPS electronic monitor at all times — appeared before Circuit Judge Nancy Fahey at a 9 a.m. hearing to request a new judge. Also in attendance was Assistant Public Defender Aaron Brakke, who was representing him, and special prosecutor Daniel Weiler of the Illinois Attorney General’s office.
Fahey granted the defendant’s motion, and his case was sent to Circuit Judge Tom O’Shaughnessy for reassignment.
After the hearing, Mr. Perkins was escorted by deputies to the holding-cell area, located on the northeast side of the first floor of the courthouse, where the incident occurred.
People inside the courthouse said they were asked to stay inside their office and courtroom until the deputy and Mr. Perkins were taken outside. Hartshorn said the incident was contained to an isolated area and didn’t disrupt court proceedings the rest of the day.
Mr. Perkins’ criminal history goes back to December 1999, when he was charged in Vermilion County with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm, two counts of aggravated assault and one count of aggravated battery with a firearm stemming from a Dec. 20, 1999, incident in which he shot his then-wife.
The following December, he pleaded guilty to aggravated discharge of a firearm and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
In 2014, he was sentenced to three five-year terms for felony possession/use of a firearm; aiding/abetting/possession/selling a stolen vehicle; and possession of methamphetamine (under 5 grams), all charges out of Montgomery County.
In 2015, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the residential burglary for which he was on parole.
At the time of his plea, two 2014 criminal cases — one for unlawful restraint, meth possession, possessing drug paraphernalia and meth precursor, and another for meth possession — were dismissed.
In December 2013, a Vermilion County jury convicted Mr. Perkins of domestic violence, but acquitted him of unlawful use of a weapon in a 2011 case. He was ordered to serve two years of probation and 180 days in jail and perform 200 hours of public service work.
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