BOSTON (WHDH) - A man who dangled from a high-rise in Roxbury after trying to evade police appeared in court again on Friday, now facing murder charges as a homicide investigation continues.
Michael Perry, 37, of Boston was initially charged with Assault by Means of a Dangerous Weapon and will now be charged with Murder according to law officials, after a death investigation got underway earlier in the week.
It followed an incident that started Sunday around 8 p.m., when officers responded to the 12th floor of a building on Northampton Street for a wellbeing check. Upon arrival, police say they knocked and announced their presence and purpose multiple times with no response.
Once they gained entry to the apartment with the help of maintenance crews, police found 43-year-old Jose Aponte dead inside the apartment, with his body pinned to the door with a fridge. Officers gained verbal contact with a second person inside the apartment, later identified as Perry, who they say was in a romantic relationship with the victim.
Prosecutors say he had a knife and another sharp object in his hands and moved aggressively toward the officers. The officers then fired foam projectiles, prompting Perry to drop the weapons and try to escape police by climbing out of a 12th floor window. However, his clothes got caught on a handle and he was left dangling outside the window, leaving him hanging upside down.
A SWAT team broke the window on the 11th floor and was able to rescue Perry, who was taken to the hospital and later arrested.
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