Former DC police lieutenant sentenced to 3 years for fatally shooting special police officer
Washington DC August 26 2023 Three years behind bars is the sentence a D.C. Superior Court judge handed down to a retired D.C. police lieutenant, accused of shooting and killing a special police officer following a training session at the Anacostia Neighborhood library last year.
The shooting claimed the life of 25-year-old Maurica Manyon.
“It was murder, and I’ll stick to that. Mr. Porter knew that he murdered Maurica, but justice was never served, and the family is very disappointed that justice was not served by this judge,” said Cynthia Marshall, the victim’s grandmother.
“I think when the judge had an opportunity to review the videotape, he saw that his immediate reaction after he shot Ms. Manyon was one of shock,” said Attorney Brian McDaniel, representing retired MPD lieutenant Jesse Porter.
McDaniel called the fatal shooting “an accident.”
Court documents state that on August 4, 2022, Porter was working as an instructor for a baton training class. It was coming to an end at the Anacostia Neighborhood Library when the group there gathered for a class picture and Porter began joking with the victim, who said she wasn’t ready for the photo. She apparently wanted to take off a facemask.
Those same court documents also state that earlier that day, witnesses saw Porter pull out an orange training gun, simulating he was shooting Manyon as some around laughed. Porter apparently claimed he thought he’d pulled a fake gun when a single bullet struck Manyon in the chest.
The director of public safety at D.C. Public Library has resigned following a deadly shooting.
Prosecutors noted in the plea agreement document, “Based on the defendant’s 33 years as a law enforcement officer, including work at the police academy, the defendant knew that his handling of his firearm – that is, bringing a live firearm into a training environment and in a DC public building, keeping the firearm on his person during non-firearms related training, pointing his orange training gun at the decedent – was at least a gross deviation from the proper safety protocols for safe handling, storage and use of a firearm.”
The prosecution found Porter “knowingly created an extreme risk of death or serious bodily injury.”
They offered him a plea deal, knocking down the charges.
He was initially indicted in May on three counts of second degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and unlawful discharge of a firearm.
According to the plea deal, Porter pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter while armed and unlawful discharge of a firearm.
The prosecution asked for seven years, the max allowed under the plea agreement. McDaniel requested three years; the minimum allowed. The judge granted three.
The judge considered Porter’s statement, age and lack of criminal history.
Porter apologized to the family, but the victim’s grandmother told reporters after, she did not hear much. She wanted to know why.
The Manyon family attorney revealed Friday they are planning to sue both the city and Porter.
