Days after federal agents shot and killed fugitive Arlie J. Perryman in Hidden Valley, his partner is speaking out, disputing what she says are false depictions of his character. 

“He was a good man. He was respectful and had a very good heart,” Susana M. Kelly, 55, wrote about the man she describes as her husband. 

“I will not sit back and let you people trash talk him like this,” she said in response to online comments. “My husband had a warrant for a probation violation for marijuana. He was killed for a MARIJUANA violation!” 

Kelly said Perryman, 43, was preparing to enter a rehab program and planned to turn himself in to law enforcement. Kelly had already turned herself in after the couple evaded capture together in a narcotics investigation. She urged people to stop sharing critical comments and negative stories about Perryman.

“I loved my husband, and this is a very sad, sad situation and it’s very devastating to me and my family and his,” she said. 

The fatal showdown took place Thursday afternoon on Barrel Road, a rural stretch of Hidden Valley, when U.S. Marshals Service task force members surrounded Perryman after he got into a vehicle. Authorities said he produced a firearm, prompting officers to fire.

Perryman died inside the car.

InMaricopa went to the scene of the shooting today. Police tape is still attached to fence posts, blowing loose in the desert wind. Broken glass from a shattered car window sits atop the manicured desert just on the property owner’s side of the property line. Tire tracks from Perryman’s vehicle are still visible.

The homeowner, sitting on his porch in the early afternoon, asked not to be identified. He explained the scene over a closed chain-link fence, plastered with No Trespassing signs. He said he did not know Perryman, but that the scene simply unfolded in front of his house, where Perryman was cornered by at least 14 police cars along the single lane dirt road. He said Perryman was shot and killed in his car as officers tried to get him to surrender. Another neighbor reported seeing drones flying over the area throughout the afternoon, unusual for the normally quiet desert community.

On Friday, another Hidden Valley resident, Jamie Morano, told InMaricopa she was feeding her donkeys when she heard police commands and then gunfire. Ambulances quickly converged on the area, she said. 

The U.S. Marshals confirmed no officers were injured. The FBI is investigating the shooting. 

Court and police records show Perryman had a long history with law enforcement. Last month, Maricopa police linked him and Kelly to a narcotics investigation after a traffic stop turned into a chase. Officers raiding a home on Whirly Bird Road later found methamphetamine, cocaine, LSD and a stolen firearm in a duffel bag tied to the couple. Perryman was facing multiple charges, including unlawful flight and weapons offenses, when he was killed.

Perryman also had previous convictions for drug and theft charges dating back nearly two decades. In 2005, he was arrested after a manhunt in Yellowstone National Park following a high-speed chase involving discarded drugs and weapons, according to media reports.

Kelly, too, has faced charges in Pinal County, including fraud and possession of narcotics for sale in 2018.

Despite his record, Kelly insisted her partner was “very good to me and my family and many others who knew him.” She has launched a crowdfunding campaign to cover funeral expenses for Perryman, who she said was the father of four. 

“I’m hurting right now because he’s gone,” said Kelly. “I miss him just like you would miss your partner if he died. … This is very devastating to me and my family.” 

Kelly, facing three felony drug-dealing charges in Pinal County Superior Court, had her arraignment continued Sept. 19. She hasn’t pleaded to the charges since surrendering to Maricopa police.