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Fugitive Who Ditched His Ailing Son Arrested After a Year

April 26, 2007
  • Byron Perkins of Kentucky in US had made headlines last year when he gave the slip to authorities after being released from prison in order to donate a kidney to his ailing son.

    He has now been captured, along with his girlfriend Leen Ann Howard, after a relentless chase by the in Puerto Vallarta on Mexico's Pacific coast, said Deputy U.S. Marshal Dawn Izgarjan.

    Perkins was released from jail without bond by a federal judge in January 2006 so he could complete testing before donating a kidney to his teenage son, Destin. At the time, he was awaiting a possible life sentence following a conviction on drug, weapon and other charges.

    Perkins was not wearing a tracking ankle bracelet because doctors told the court it would have interfered with medical tests.

    Doctors said Perkins appeared to be a perfect match for his son. But on the final day of hospital tests, he failed to show up. Perkins left behind a letter promising he would "come through" for his son, who needed dialysis. U.S. Marshals put him on their "Most Wanted" list.

    "I don't know how he could lay his head down at night, just knowing that he ran away and left me up here to die like that," Destin Perkins said after receiving news of his father's capture. "That's just one of my main questions, is why he did it and how he could do it."

    "There's a lot of anger between me and him right now," Destin Perkins said. "I would like to see him and tell him what I think and just ask one question: Why he did it? It's kind of sad that he would run out on me like that."

    At the time, he said, he was angry and depressed. "It really wasn't healthy on me at the time. I was 16 years old, and I had to worry about this."

    Now 17, Destin Perkins received a kidney last August from an anonymous cadaver donor in California. "As of today, I'm doing fine, just fine," he said. "The kidney's working great."

    Destin Perkins' mother, Angela Hammond, said she hoped Perkins would "sit and realize how he hurt his children."

    Deputy U.S. Marshal Joe Chabarria, who accompanied Perkins and Howard on their flight to Los Angeles, said the two "looked like they were tired. They were ready to come back."

    Source-Medindia
    SRM/V

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