Ben Crump says Video Proves a PA Parole Agent Murdered Marchello Woodard; Police Claim a Cop Shot Him b/c He was Dragged by the Black Man's Car But Video Shows It Hadn't Moved When Shots were Fired

From [HERE] The family of Marchello D. Woodard — the 43-year-old Erie man fatally shot by a state parole agent on July 2 — now has heavyweight legal backing.

Ben Crump, the prominent civil rights attorney who represented the families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in two of the most high-profile police killing cases in recent years, is now representing the Woodard family.

Crump, along with Philadelphia attorney Thomas Fitzpatrick, joined Woodard’s family Aug. 7 at Second Baptist Church in Erie, pledging to a lively crowd their intention to fight for justice in the shooting death of Woodard, who was Black.

At the heart of their argument, the attorneys said they obtained video from community members that contradicts the Pennsylvania State Police account — that a state parole agent shot Woodard because Woodard was dragging the agent with Woodard’s car along East 27th Street. 

Instead, Crump claims, the footage shows the car was stationary when the agent opened fire.

“The video is the most important piece of evidence,” Crump said. “Regardless of what the parole officers put in their reports — if it doesn’t match up with the video, then we know that it’s not true because we ain’t blind and we can see the video.”

"The case is on the video,” Crump said. “They fired those shots and that car had not moved.”

He added, “It was wrong to use unnecessary, excessive force … this was an unnecessary shooting, this was an unjustified shooting and this was an unconstitutional shooting of Marchello Woodard.”

Crump is calling for the parole agent’s arrest. He emphasized that while the district attorney and state attorney general have the authority to bring criminal charges, his legal team has the discretion to file a wrongful death lawsuit if justice is not served.

“It’s about equal justice,” he said. “You should not be able to kill somebody unjustifiably just because you have a badge and a gun. This is America. And the Constitution and due process and equal justice matter.”

District attorney Claims to Still Be Reviewing Evidence

Fitzpatrick said they have already spoken with Erie County District Attorney Beth Hirz but stressed that the decision on whether to charge the parole agent rests with her.

“If they don’t like our video, then they should have their own video,” Fitzpatrick said. “If (the parole agents) were wearing body cams, they would have their own video.”

The parole agents were not wearing body cameras because state parole agents do not have them, according to the state Department of Corrections. A department spokeswoman said the department is in the process of buying body cameras.