Tom GantertMobile, AL – The defense attorney of a teenager who is accused of killing a police officer have opposed having their client put in handcuffs engraved with murdered police officer’s name.
Marco Perez, 19, was charged with capital murder in the murder of Mobile Police Officer Sean Tuder, according to WALA. Perez pleaded not guilty on Monday in the courtroom when the issue about the handcuffs popped up.
Perez was put in the handcuffs that were engraved with Officer Tuder’s name. The defense attorneys said they planned to file a motion to stop those handcuffs from being used on Perez again, WALA reported.
The prosecutors said the Mobile County Metro Jail made the decision to put Perez in the engraved handcuffs and not the District Attorney’s Office, according to WALA.
The jail warden approved the use of the engraved handcuffs last week. But now that Perez’s attorneys have complained in court about it, those handcuffs will no longer be used, according to WALA.
Officer Tuder, 30, was murdered Jan. 20 when he was trying to apprehend Perez at apartments in West Mobile. Officer Tuder had the day off but had requested permission to follow up on a confidential tip that Perez was at the apartment complex, according to the Birmingham News. Officer Tuder was in undercover clothing and in an unmarked vehicle when he drove to the apartment complex.
Officer Tuder and Perez fought within seconds of the officer’s arrival and Perez allegedly drew a weapon and shot Officer Tuder multiple times.
WPMI released a video that showed Mobile Police Department officers that were just feet away from Perez two days before police said he murdered Officer Tuder. The police were looking for Perez after linking him to at least three stolen cars and one home burglary in January.