Convicted child killer seeks parole for the 10th time

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — A convicted killer is about to go before the Rhode Island Parole Board and he just so happens to be facing charges for another violent crime at the same time.

“He’s a dangerous individual, he was, he is, he never changed,” said Carolyn Medeiros, the Executive Director of Alliance for Safe Communities in Rhode Island.

Medeiros works to advocate for victims and victims’ families.

“I do believe Walter Perry understood the essence of right and wrong, good and bad, and violence,” Medeiros said. “So I don’t want to hear that that wasn’t a factor at that time.”

In South Kingstown in 1984, Walter Perry Jr. beat a 20-month-old child to death. Her name was Leah, and she was the daughter of Perry Jr.’s girlfriend.

“I think that’s one of the most heinous crimes in society, murdering an infant,” Medeiros said.

Leah died from a blow to her stomach that ruptured her small intestine and Perry Jr. was sentenced to life in prison for murder in 1987.

Perry was later released in 2017 after the parole board unanimously agreed on the decision, but Perry Jr. has since been back in trouble with the law.

“Now, obviously whatever triggers there are with him, triggers were pushed and he reacted violently like he did in the past,” Medeiros said.

Perry Jr. is now facing felony assault charges, accused of grabbing a healthcare worker by the throat and pushing her. It happened in March at Trinity Rehab in Woonsocket.

“We shouldn’t have expected a different outcome given the situation,” Medeiros said. “If he was reformed and they feel that he understood the essence of his actions and how consequences come into effect with how many years of incarceration, 30 years, so he understands consequences, and yet he reoffends seven years coming out of the gate and with felony assault on a healthcare worker.”

Perry Jr. is expected to be arraigned on Monday in his felony assault case, but he’s also supposed to appear before the parole board for the tenth time.

Medeiros said his parole hearing will likely end up postponed.