No charges filed in 2018 Memphis police shooting of D'Mario Perkins

No criminal charges are being sought in the 2018 police shooting of D'Mario Perkins, according to members of Perkins' family who met with Shelby County prosecutors Friday. 

Sheila Perkins, the mother of D'Mario Perkins, and Jeneen Hill, a cousin, confirmed they met with Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich, who told them body camera footage of the shooting would be released within the next two weeks to a month. 

District attorney spokesperson Larry Buser confirmed by email Friday no charges are being filed against the officers involved.

Autopsy: Fatal shot was self-inflicted

D'Mario Perkins was pulled over in a traffic stop on the night of July 25, 2018, in the area of South Third Street and Mitchell Road in Whitehaven by Memphis police officers Brandon Barnes and David Reinke.

Officers said when they approached Perkins, he told them he was suicidal.

During a confrontation, Perkins was shot ten times, including a fatal shot to the head, according to an autopsy report released by the Tennessee Department of Health. 

The medical examiner ruled the shot to the head was self-inflicted and listed it as the cause of death, before the other nine shots were fired by police. 

Mother questions actions of officers, investigation

Sheila Perkins called on all activists throughout the city to seek justice for families affected by police shootings. 

"Some kind of way, justice has to come out of this. Not just for my son D'Mario but for all the mothers that are out here and their children are being slaughtered in the streets," she said during an interview. 

"Where are the black pastors, where are the black leaders, where are the black activists in our neighborhoods and our communities that continue to let these things happen and only speak up for a few but not for the many?" she said. 

After speaking with activists in the city, Sheila Perkins said she still could not find the support she needed in the case of her son's shooting. She still questions whether her son's death was a suicide. If it was, she said officers should have handled the situation better. 

"If they consider it to be a suicide, then what was the police protocol on that type of incident? Why didn't they call in the crisis intervention? Memphis is known as the city that started the crisis intervention program," she said.

She questioned why Reinke submitted a letter of resignation to the Memphis Police Department on April 26 in order to work for his hometown police department. 

Reinke's last day with the department was on May 5. Barnes has returned to full duty, according to MPD. 

Perkins' family started a GoFundMe to "help our family find answers and closure" on Thursday.