VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A man who faces homicide and reckless driving charges after his vehicle was struck last year in Volusia County by a wrong-war driver has bonded out of jail at the request of some victims’ family members.
The District 7 State Attorney’s Office announced last week that 22-year-old Devin Perkins had been arrested in connection to the December crash that left his three passengers dead. Thomas Petry, 54, who was driving the wrong-way vehicle and had walked away from the scene of the fatal crash by the time first responders arrived at the scene, was also arrested, investigators said.
According to Perkins’ charging affidavit, he was driving at least 30-40 mph above the speed limit and was found via blood work to have had some alcohol and THC in his system at the time of the crash.
In court Thursday, a Volusia judge heard from the mother, father and brother of Alexandria Dulin — a social media influencer known by fans as Ali Spice, among the three dead — as well as another victim’s mother who spoke first.
“My son was Devin’s very best friend, and he was in the car that night, and they’re all good kids, and I just really feel when he’s being charged with his -- (it’s) just way too much,” the woman said. “I mean, yes, he was speeding, but he would not do anything to put these three passengers through what happened, and I feel that if the other car wasn’t on the wrong side of the road, this wouldn’t have happened.”
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Tamara Dulin, Alexandria’s mother, told the judge that she shared the woman’s sentiment.
“I would just like to ask the court for a bond for Devin,” Tamara Dulin said. “...I would like him to not be charged, I know that’s not my case, but I would at least like him to get out of jail.”
After Dulin’s father and brother gave similar statements, both saying they shared the sentiment as well, the judge asked state prosecutors if they had come up with a bond amount.
They had, pitching $250,000 for each of the three counts of vehicular homicide that Perkins faces and a $50,000 bond amount for a charge of reckless driving involving serious bodily injury, also requesting that Perkins’ passport be seized.
Perkins’ attorney said that the 22-year-old did not have the financial capability to meet the state’s bond request, was bedridden and did not pose a flight risk.
The judge granted Perkins an $80,000 bond — $25,000 for the homicide charges and $5,000 for the reckless driving charge — and he bonded out of jail at 8:31 p.m. Thursday, records show.
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