A former D.C. police lieutenant pleaded guilty Friday to involuntary manslaughter and unlawful discharge of a firearm in the fatal shooting of a library officer during a training exercise at the Anacostia Neighborhood Library.
Jesse Porter, 58, faces a maximum of 30 years in prison in the Aug. 4 shooting death of 25-year-old library officer Maurica Manyan.
Porter had initially been charged with involuntary manslaughter, but earlier this year a grand jury voted to elevate the charges to second-degree murder.
Authorities have alleged previously that Porter shot Manyan during an incident that witnesses described as a possible joke that went awry. The retired D.C. police lieutenant, who online records show runs a training company called Porter Consulting and Expert Tactical Training, had been contracted by the library to train its officers on using handcuffs and batons.
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At the end of the day, according to charging documents, those in the training went to pose for a picture, and Manyan said she wasn’t ready because she was still wearing a mask to protect against the coronavirus. Manyan’s classmates jokingly said “she’s never ready,” a federal prosecutor recounted at the hearing. And Porter, according to charging documents, said, “Ah, here we go again,” removed his handgun from his waist, pointed the firearm at Manyan and shot her once in the chest.
Manyan’s attorney, Brian McDaniel, said his client was “remorseful” and that in a security video that captured the shooting, Porter immediately put both of his hands on his head as if to say, “I can’t believe this happened.” Porter then began performing CPR on Manyan.
It was an emotional hearing as members of Manyan’s family objected to the plea offer and alleged in a lengthy letter to D.C. Superior Court Judge Anthony Epstein that the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case, Andrea Coronado, “repeatedly failed to inform and show respect or empathy” to the family during her handling of the case.
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“Ms. Coronado neglected to greet or meet with the family. Our family was not involved or informed during these plea talks. We have been humiliated and re-victimized by her behavior,” Manyan’s cousin Monique Simpson told Epstein.
Simpson and about 15 other family members, including Manyan’s parents, sobbed loudly during the hearing. The family also told Epstein that their requests to view the security video that captured the shooting were repeatedly denied. Simpson also asked Epstein to refer the prosecutor to D.C. Bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel for an investigation.
Coronado declined to comment on the family’s allegations saying that the family also sent a similar letter to her supervisors in the U.S. attorney’s office. One of Coronado’s supervisors, veteran homicide prosecutor Sharon Donovan who was seated next to Coronado at the hearing, said the office “disagreed” with the family’s allegations. She said Coronado had been in communication with the family and that Coronado has “acted ethically.”
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Epstein requested that Coronado’s office allow the family a chance to watch the security video, but he warned the family, repeatedly, how emotionally difficult watching the video that captured the shooting could be.
Coronado asked Epstein to order Porter jailed until sentencing. Porter, a 33-year veteran with the D.C. police, had been allowed to stay at home on condition that he did not possess any weapons and reported to all court hearings.
McDaniel argued his client has been compliant with all court orders and was neither a danger to the community nor a flight risk and should be allowed to remain home until sentence. Epstein agreed.
Epstein is scheduled to sentence Porter on Aug. 25.
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