Man who helped Richland Uptown killer escape after shooting is headed to prison
When Troy A. McCowan went to the Uptown Shopping Center in November, he didn’t know that he would be helping a murderer escape after a shooting.
His actions weighed on him as he admitted to his role in driving Isiah Rodriguez away from the scene.
McCowan, 35, pleaded guilty to helping Rodriguez escape from police after the attack that killed Michael Perkins about 4:10 a.m. on Nov. 16.
Prosecutors say Perkins was defending a woman from Rodriguez.
“When I watched the video and saw that nobody stopped to help him, that kind of messed with me,” McCowan told Judge Jackie Stam during a Monday sentencing hearing. “I do feel bad. I don’t think he deserved that. He was just trying to help.”
The crime carried a range of a year to a year and two months in prison.
Rodriguez pleaded guilty to the murder in January at his first appearance before the court. He faces up to 24 1/2 years in prison. His sentencing has been pushed back multiple times. It is currently scheduled for July 29.
Grandgeorge and defense attorney Josh Cuevas recommended a sentence of a year in prison for McCowan.
Grandgeorge said Perkins was killed defending a woman from someone whose pride, bravado and access to a gun led to the deadly confrontation.
“That individual isn’t in the courtroom today,” Grandgeorge said. “Throughout this case I don’t believe there has been any indication that when Mr. McCowan went there that he that he expected what happened.”
He said if there was any proof that a murder was going to happen the deal wouldn’t have happened.
Perkins’ grandmother Alice Perkins wrote in a statement that she wasn’t surprised that Michael was helping someone when he died. She told Stam that Michael had once brought a blind man home after finding him lost. The next day he helped the man get home.
She couldn’t describe the hurt that his death caused, but chose to forgive McCowan because it was what Michael would have wanted.
“I hope that you will take your time in prison to learn the things you need to know to live a better life when you get out,” she said.
Cuevas pointed out that McCowan had to make a decision quickly, and if he had the time to think about it, he would have chosen differently.
“If he had stayed, he would have been a witness,” Cuevas said. “Nothing indicates that Mr. McCowan showed up there understanding Mr. Rodriguez’s plan.”
Judge Jackie Stam followed the recommendation, saying there was nothing that she could do to bring back Michael Perkins. But she felt McCowan heard what Alice Perkins had to say.
“It is up to you to live your life the best that you can,” she said.
Argument in shopping area breezeway
Court documents say security video at the shopping center shows Rodriguez approached three people, including a woman in a light-colored coat and a man in a hoodie.
Rodriguez was carrying a M48 tactical war hammer, a modern version of the medieval weapon with a hammer head and a spike.
Michael Perkins was at a nearby picnic table in the breezeway near Lee’s Tahitian restaurant, court documents said.
Perkins suffered from mental health issues and was known to sometimes sleep in the breezeway, his brother Steaven Perkins previously told the Tri-City Herald.
Witnesses described Rodriguez as being hostile when he spoke with the woman and man for less than a minute before trying to take the woman’s coat.
Perkins stepped in and stripped the war hammer away from Rodriguez, said the documents.
McCowan then arrived and Rodriguez was seen taking items, including possibly a phone, from the man in the hoodie, said the documents.
The documents said the video shows Rodriguez and Perkins yelling at each other, and another person trying to get between them.
Perkins tossed the hammer on the roof of the shopping center but Rodriguez pulled out a gun and shot him three times, said court documents.
It’s not clear whether Rodriguez had the gun the entire time or if someone else handed it to him.
After the shots were fired, Rodriguez and McCowan could be seen running away, and Perkins was on the ground.