SALYERSVILLE – A Magoffin County man was sentenced to six months after taking a plea deal in connection to a shooting that occurred last July.
Michael Perkins, 42, Salyersville, was facing a first-degree assault charge after reportedly shooting Bobby Dean Stephens during an altercation.
According to a press release from Kentucky State Police Pikeville Post, law enforcement received a call regarding a shooting on Sunday, July 11, 2021, with investigators responding to Rockhouse Fork Road.
Upon arrival, KSP discovered one man had been shot, with initial investigations indicating an altercation had occurred between Perkins and Stephens, resulting in Stephens suffering a gunshot wound.
Mortimer Media Group was told by officials the two men had recently been co-workers at the Bailey Brothers Garage. Reportedly, the verbal altercation started earlier in the day and escalated at the garage, where the shooting occurred.
On Thursday, April 7, the court accepted the Commonwealth’s offer on a plea of guilty, amending the first-degree assault charge (which carries a potential penalty of 10 to 20 years) down to second-degree assault (5 to 10 years) and wanton endangerment (1 to 5 years). According to the plea deal signed in February and accepted at a sentencing hearing last week, Perkins is to receive 10 years for the assault, second degree, and 5 years for wanton endangerment, to run consecutively for a total of 15 years, with the 15 years probated for 5 years on the condition Perkins serves 6 months from February 28, 2022 – the date the plea deal was signed.
Additionally, Perkins is to have no contact with Stephens or his home street of Royalton Road, with his work at Delbert Bailey’s garage and Holbrook and Son Trucking, and will be on supervised probation. He is to pay restitution in the amount of $10,000 to Stephens.
According to jail records, Perkins has been held at the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center since September 15, 2021.
Editor’s Note: The indictment or charge of a person by a grand jury or otherwise is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
