A former D.C. police lieutenant was sentenced to three years in prison Friday in the fatal shooting of a library officer during a training exercise at the Anacostia Neighborhood Library last year.
Jesse Porter, 60 — who had been allowed to remain at home since the Aug. 4, 2022, shooting death of 25-year-old library officer Maurica Manyan — was handcuffed and escorted out of the courtroom by deputy U.S. marshals after a judge handed down the penalty. In an emotional, two-hour hearing, he had apologized to the dozens of Manyan’s family members who packed the courtroom, including her 5-year-old son, Damauri.
“I pray daily for the words to say,” Porter said. “All I can say is I am sorry. I wish this hadn’t happened.”
The fatal shooting occurred about 3:30 p.m. in a training room in the lower level of the library in the 1800 block of Good Hope Road SE. Porter, who worked as a D.C. police officer for 33 years before retiring and opening his own security training company called Porter Consulting and Expert Tactical Training, had been contracted to train library officers on using handcuffs and batons.
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Authorities have alleged previously that witnesses described the shooting as a possible joke that went awry. 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. Porter, according to charging documents, responded, “Ah, here we go again,” removed his handgun from his waist, pointed the firearm at Manyan and shot her once in the chest.
Porter’s attorneys and prosecutors said that Porter had replaced an orange, plastic training weapon on his hip with his actual firearm at the end of the session, and that he thought he still had the training gun when he pointed it at Manyan and pulled the trigger. In June, he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and unlawful discharge of a firearm. The involuntary manslaughter charge was what he faced initially, though a grand jury later upgraded the case to second-degree murder.
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Prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Porter to seven years, the maximum sentence under the plea agreement. Porter’s attorney, Brian McDaniel, asked Judge Anthony C. Epstein to sentence his client to three years, the low end, or even give him probation.
At the hearing, Manyan’s relatives said Porter should not have brought a firearm to the training because he was instructing the officers on using handcuffs and batons, not firearms. Some of them asked the judge to set aside the plea deal and sentence him to a stiffer term.
Manyan’s father, Radcliff Manyan Sr., spoke of how his daughter was so excited to live her dream of becoming a police officer and how she had just purchased her own home for herself and her young son.
“You took my baby girl. Tell me why you murdered my daughter,” he asked, looking at Porter.
The shooting was captured on a security camera. Manyan’s family was allowed to view the video before the sentencing and asked for it to be released to the public.
At the hearing, Manyan’s father and other relatives said Porter was drunk during the training and had previously made advances on Manyan — though McDaniel disputed both of those points, and prosecutors did not present evidence to support them.
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The allegations, McDaniel said, were the family’s attempt to “make sense out of something that makes no sense and will never make sense.”
McDaniel argued Porter spent 33 years as a D.C. police officer, had never been arrested and deserved leniency.
“There was no intention here. He did not intend to shoot Ms. Manyan,” McDaniel said. “This was a horrible and tragic accident.”
Manyan’s mother, Sherene Manyan, yelled out. “Why, Mr. Porter? Tell us why.” The judge interjected and told Porter he did not need to respond. He said Porter was contrite, and the shooting was not representative of broader gun violence plaguing D.C.
“I believe Mr. Porter is genuinely and deeply remorseful for what he did,” Epstein said. “Your anger is understandable. But I can’t sentence out of anger.”
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