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Louisville, KY – U.S. Marshals have
added “deadbeat dad”
Byron Keith Perkins and his girlfriend
Lea Ann
Howard to their 15 Most Wanted fugitive list as they increase the
effort to track down the man who promised to donate a kidney to his
ailing son, but skipped town instead. This callous act resulted in
his being dubbed the “most hated man in America.”
"This case was made one of our priorities because of the urgent
nature of the situation. The life of this man’s son is in jeopardy
unless he gets this kidney transplant,” said Robert J. Finan II,
Assistant Director of the U.S. Marshals Investigative Services
Division.
Perkins (37) was
allowed to leave jail in January after he convinced authorities that
he was going to donate a kidney to save the life of his desperately
ill son. He was in jail awaiting sentencing on a gun and drug
conviction for which the minimum jail term is 25 years. A career
criminal, he had previously served seven years for bank robbery.
Marshals believe Perkins is traveling
with his girlfriend Lea Ann Howard (36). They were last
seen driving in a 1994 blue-green Ford Crown Victoria with Kentucky
license plate 784-BHS. There have been reports that the fugitive
couple might have fled to Mexico where they were allegedly sighted
near Puerto Vallarta. Both Perkins and Howard have criminal records
involving drugs and weapons, and Howard has a prior conviction for
solicitation to murder.
“I’ve dealt with many unsavory
characters during my career, but this one is particularly vile. His
own son’s life is at stake here,” said U.S. Marshal Ronald “Rick”
McCubbin.
Byron Keith Perkins, alias Eric Perkins, is a white male, height
6”3”, weight 240 pounds. He has brown eyes and hair, and a medium
complexion. He has tattoos on both his left and right forearms,
upper arms and shoulders. Lea
Ann Howard. alias Lea Ann Spradlin, Lea Ann Alford, and Lea Ann
Perkins, is a white
female, height 5”7”, weight 120 pounds, with blue eyes, brown hair
and medium complexion. An insulin dependent diabetic, Howard also has
a stab wound scar on her back and wears glasses. Howard is wanted by
the U.S. Marshals for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution based on
Kentucky state charges of robbery, marijuana trafficking, and
persistent felony offender. “We
are focusing on bringing these fugitives in both to serve justice
and to see if Perkins makes good on a promise to save his son’s
life,” said Marshal McCubbin.
Both Perkins and Howard are considered armed and dangerous. A reward
of up to
$25,000 is being offered for information directly leading to the
arrest of either Byron Keith Perkins or Lea Ann Howard. Anyone with
information about these fugitives is asked to call the U.S. Marshals
at 877- WANTED2. Fugitive
apprehension is one of the major missions of the U.S. Marshals. They
capture more
federal fugitives each year than all other law enforcement agencies
combined. |
