WASHINGTON — The family of a Special Police Officer Maurica Manyan has penned an open letter to Jesse Porter, the retired Metropolitan Police Department Lieutenant who's accused of shooting and killing her.
On August 4, 2022, Porter was leading a baton and handcuff technique training at the Anacostia Library that Manyan was attending.
Court documents indicate that Porter told responding officers that "he and the trainees were taking a picture and joking around when he removed his firearm from his holster and then heard it discharge" and that he repeated multiple times "I thought I had my training gun."
"We haven't got no justice yet," Radcliffe and Sherene Manyan told WUSA9 outside their Maryland home Friday night.
They say they don't understand why Porter had a loaded gun at the training. "She was killed with a gun, not a baton. We don't think it was an accident in my opinion" said Manyan's mother Sherene.
The Manyan's say this has left their family shattered. Maurica had a four-year-old son, who doesn't understand why his mother still hasn't come home.
In an open letter to Porter, Sherene wrote, "We struggle daily to understand how this happened. We can't imagine what could have possibly gone through your mind when you pulled out your gun, aimed it at our daughter, and pulled the trigger. As former law enforcement, you should have known the dangers of carrying a loaded weapon and pointing it at my child. I have so many unanswered questions and I know I may never get the answers, but I will promise you this, I will spend the rest of my life ensuring we receive justice for taking my daughter away from me."
Around 7 p.m. Friday, WUSA9 reached out to The Cochran Law Firm, which is representing Jesse Porter, for a statement in response to that letter. As of Friday night, no response has been given.
The family's attorney, Chelsea Lewis, told WUSA9 "quite frankly the family is frustrated with the lack of transparency in the DC government. Officer Manyan was one of their own. it's extremely frustrating to see the DC government treat Officer Manyan's family this way especially when it was Officer Manyan who made the decision to risk her life everyday serving the district."
Lewis says they've requested the surveillance footage from Anacostia Library.
"We requested the tape from the DC Public Library months ago via a FOIA request. The initial response that we got from the DC Public Library was they didn't have the tape. They referred us to the Metropolitan Police Department. We received a response from MPD that they didn't have the tape, and then we received an amended response from DC Public Library that they did in fact have the tape, but they were refusing to release it to the family for a host of reasons that they never described in their initial letter" said Lewis.
On Saturday, October 29, 2022, at 10 a.m., Officer Manyan's family is holding a walk. It will start and end at Anacostia Library. They say anyone is invited to attend and show support to Maurica Manyan.
