Daniel Perry's police interview after Garrett Foster's death revealed to jury
AUSTIN, Texas - Day five of Daniel Perry’s murder trial included showing the entirety of Perry’s police interview following the shooting.
Perry is accused of shooting and killing Black Lives Matter Protester Garrett Foster on July 25, 2020.
Before the interview began, Perry can be seen pacing back and forth. He also can be seen leaning his head against the wall and screaming for someone to come in. Perry then requested he not be left alone in the interrogation room.
Former Austin Police Homicide Detective David Fugitt was the one to conduct the interview with Perry once he was brought to APD Headquarters. He asked Perry to demonstrate how Foster was holding his gun.
"I believe he was going to aim at me. I didn’t want to give him a chance to aim at me," Perry told Detective Fugitt in the interview.
Fugitt then asked Perry what he did. Perry then demonstrated a fast motion of him grabbing his gun on his left side and pointing it out the window.
"I didn’t want to get shot," Perry said.
Perry said he took five shots. When asked where he aimed, Perry said at the center of mass. He believes the whole encounter was less than 15 seconds.
Sometime after the interview, Perry called Detective Fugitt to request information for his lawyer. In that call, he reiterated how scared he was and how he felt bad for what happened.
"He was a person. I feel bad. I just wish it happened different. I didn’t want him to die, I just wanted to incapacitate him," Perry told the detective over the phone.
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One thing Perry kept mentioning throughout the videos and recordings is that he was texting a woman and driving. He adds he was not paying attention and that is one of the reasons he accidentally drove into the crowd of protesters.
The state presented those messages between him and the woman. The woman was a passenger he picked up working for Uber earlier in the night. She asked him for $200 for the hangout to which he declined.
Pamela Mazak, an APD crime analyst, was called to the stand to break down her analysis of Perry’s Uber and cell phone location records from the night of July 25, 2020. She said the last text Perry received or sent out was two minutes before he entered the intersection with the protesters.
The defense argues Perry was not in the downtown area between the hours of 7:40-9:30 p.m. The incident happened around 9:51p.m.
The state presented a Facebook post of Perrys. He wrote, "send them to Texas. We will show them why we say don’t mess with Texas." The comment was in reference to a different post about protesters and looters in another state.
Trial picks up Tuesday at 9 a.m.