Retired lieutenant sentenced after shooting special police officer to death after training at Anacostia Library

WASHINGTON — A retired Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Lieutenant was sentenced to three years in prison after he shot a special police officer to death following a training session at the Anacostia Library last year. 

The shooting happened at the library on Good Hope Road around 3:30 p.m. on August 4, 2022. 

In a press conference the day of the deadly shooting, then MPD chief Robert Contee explained that 25-year-old Maurica Manyan was shot while attending ASP baton training in a library room as a special police officer. Manyan was taken to an area hospital where she died from her injuries. 

In June, Porter pleaded guilty to charges, including involuntary manslaughter, as part of a plea agreement. He was originally charged with second-degree murder. 

ASP Batons are expandable batons commonly used by law enforcement. It was unclear at the time why the instructor, later identified as 58-year-old Jesse Porter, took out a gun or fired the weapon. However, according to charging documents in the case, witnesses told investigators the class was finished for the day and photos were being taken. The mood was lighthearted and there had been joking throughout the day that Manyan had been moving too slowly.

"They were all joking with the decedent that she was never ready," according to one witness.

When the victim paused to take off her mask and adjust her hair for a picture, the former officer pulled a gun from his holster and pointed it at her. The gun went off.

According to one witness, Porter said, "I thought I had my training gun. Why did I do this? Is she OK?"

Another witness described Porter as "distraught." Porter assisted in giving CPR to Manyan, according to a police report.

The group had been handling training guns during the day and Porter and others were packing up and putting away props just prior to the incident, according to the police report.

Manyan was a Special Police Officer for D.C. Public Libraries. According to D.C. Police, Special Police officers are commissioned to protect a specific property. The officers can carry a weapon and make arrests at that location. SPOs must also be licensed and undergo training. According to a family member, she left behind a 4-year-old son.

Family spoke with WUSA9 in October 2022, questioning why Porter had a loaded gun at the training in the first place. In an open letter to Porter,  Sherene Manyan 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."

Attorneys representing Manyan's family were able to watch a video recording of the deadly shooting and say the family is working to release the video publicly as it is a matter of grave public concern as to why Porter was able to carry a loaded gun into the library. 

"Watching Officer Maurica fight for her life on the floor of the Anacostia Neighborhood Library with her killer towering over her in her final moments was nothing short of heartbreaking," reads a release from Lewis Law, the firm representing the Manyan family. "The District of Columbia bears a heavy responsibility for allowing such a tragedy to occur in a public library against one of their own public servants."