VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Months after a high-speed, head-on crash that left three people dead on State Road 44 in Volusia County late last year, the District 7 State Attorney’s Office announced Friday that the drivers of both vehicles involved have been arrested and face charges in the fatal wreck.
Early December 11, a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck traveling the wrong way on eastbound SR-44 near Jesse Michael Drive struck an Infiniti Q50 with four occupants inside, three of whom died at the scene. The driver of the Infiniti — Devin Perkins, 22 — was left in serious condition, a passenger in the Tacoma also suffered serious injuries and the pickup truck’s driver — Thomas Petry, 54 — had walked away from the scene by the time law enforcement arrived, a news release shows.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers and Volusia County deputies searched for Petry in the tree line, unsuccessful at first even with the help of a K-9, authorities said. Court records state Petry was booked early Friday, but the circumstances of his arrest were not disclosed.
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According to Perkins’ charging affidavit, the route to the crash site began at a bar and spanned about 37.5 miles, on which Perkins averaged a speed of 97 miles an hour.
Based on how he was driving at least 30-40 miles per hour above relevant posted speed limits in Orange and Volusia counties — adding to how it was allegedly later found via blood testing that he was driving under the influence of alcohol and THC — the affidavit states he operated “in a reckless manner that caused the death of his three passengers and serious injuries to the passenger of the Toyota Tacoma.”
One of Perkins’ passengers was identified as 21-year-old Alexandra Dulin, a social media influencer who had garnered about 1 million followers between her TikTok and Instagram accounts before her death.
Dulin’s father James described Alexandra as loving and someone with a generous heart, telling News 6 they had just spoken the day before the crash about flying home to Indiana for Christmas, adding he was sending love to the families of the two others killed in the wreck.
Petry faces charges of leaving the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injury, reckless driving involving serious bodily injury, three counts of leaving the scene of a crash with death and three counts of vehicular homicide, records show.
Perkins faces a charge of reckless driving involving serious bodily injury and three counts of vehicular homicide, records show.
At Petry’s first appearance in court Friday, a judge appointed a public defender to him and ruled he would be held on no bond amount.
James Dulin told News 6 on Friday that his family and the other victims’ families are relieved to hear Petry was caught but are disappointed in Perkins’ arrest.
“I may be the father that lost his daughter but man, this isn’t a scenario where I want an eye for an eye and tooth and tooth. This just doesn’t feel right,” he said. “I guess I feel as though he’s been through enough.”
Dulin said they would be in the court hearings in support of Perkins. He said the victims’ families feel the charges against him are too severe, even if he was speeding.
“If it weren’t for a drunk driver going the wrong direction with his headlights off we wouldn’t be in this position, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” he said.
At Perkins’ first appearance Saturday, the state asked for no bond — specifically, the same bond conditions as Petry — and he was granted none; the judge claimed information contained in the warrant was not sufficient for it. Alexandria Dulin’s parents, present as victim advocates, sought Perkins’ release on bond, stating “We just want Devin to get home.”
Perkins retained private counsel and was ordered to have no contact with Petry as charges were pending.
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