On November 16, 2024, at about 4:15 a.m., 36-year-old Michael Anthony Perkins was found dead in a breezeway at the Uptown Shopping Center in Richland, Washington. He had sustained multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the chest, and was discovered near Lee’s Tahitian Restaurant on the Jadwin Avenue side of the center.

Perkins, who struggled with schizoaffective disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, was known to frequently sleep in that breezeway. Family reported he experienced delusions and often argued with himself aloud. Court documents say the confrontation began after an alleged attempt by 28-year-old Isiah Nathanial Rodriguez to steal a woman’s jacket; Perkins reportedly intervened and was fatally shot during the altercation.

Rodriguez was arrested in Portland on November 21, 2024, and charged with one count of second-degree murder. The Richland Police request anyone with information to contact them and reference case number 24-048510. Does anyone have information about Michael’s routines at the shopping center or what they might have seen that morning?