Marchello D. Woodard, left, was shot and killed by Pennsylvania state parole agent Kevin J. Seelinger on July 2, 2025. Testimony in Seelinger’s trial started in Erie County Common Pleas Court on Oct. 5.
GREG WOHLFORD/ERIE TIMES-NEWS
USA TODAY Network, Reuters
No video captured the entire episode that ended in the fatal shooting of parolee Marchello D. Woodard.
That absence has left the Erie County District Attorney’s Office to rely heavily on witness testimony as it prosecutes the first-degree murder case against Pennsylvania state parole agent Kevin J. Seelinger.
One of the main prosecution witnesses is Woodard’s girlfriend, Chamell Henderson.
On the second day of testimony in Seelinger’s trial in the Erie County Court of Common Pleas, Henderson testified on Oct. 6 that she saw Seelinger approach Woodard’s car moments before the parole agent fatally shot him.
Woodard, known as Chello, was hit three times as he sat in the driver’s seat of the car, parked in the 400 block of East 27th Street in Erie in July 2025.
“Chello’s window was down. He grabbed like the window part,” Henderson testified, referring to Seelinger. “Everything happened so fast. I just heard, ‘Pow. Pow. Pow.'”
Henderson, who cried as she testified, said she was walking from the car to her residence’s front porch when the shooting unfolded.
“Mr. Seelinger came out of nowhere,” Henderson testified.
‘I did not see him being dragged’
The defense contends that Seelinger was justified in shooting Woodard to stop him from being dragged by Woodard’s car.
Under questioning by District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz, Henderson testified that she did not recall Woodard’s car moving when Seelinger fired the shots, and she said she did not see Woodard’s car dragging Seelinger.
Hirz asked Henderson about the dragging after one of Seelinger’s lawyers, Douglas McCormick, asked Henderson on cross-examination whether she told Pennsylvania State Police in a recorded interview after the shooting that “it looked like the guy was probably going to be dragged.”
Henderson acknowledged that she had made those remarks. In redirect examination of Henderson, Hirz referred to other parts of the police interview, in which Henderson did not specifically say that she saw Woodard’s car drag Seelinger.
Henderson said those comments were also accurate.
“No, I didn’t see him being dragged,” Henderson testified.
Woodard had drugs on him while on parole
Woodard was shot about 9:45 p.m. on July 2, 2025. He was not armed, according to the prosecution and the defense.
Woodard was on parole for a gun and cocaine case, and Seelinger was his parole officer. Testimony showed that Seelinger, 36, was attached that night to an anti-crime task force called the Gun Working Group, which the District Attorney’s Office helps administer.
State parole agents were not outfitted with body cameras at the time of the shooting. State police, which investigated the shooting, were unable to obtain neighbors’ surveillance video that captured the entire incident, according to testimony.
Seelinger shot Woodard three times, including once in the back, striking his lung and aorta, the prosecution said. Pennsylvania law allows intent to be inferred from the use of a deadly weapon upon a vital part of the body.
Police found 26.4 grams of cocaine in Woodard’s shorts and $1,500 in cash in a search of his clothes and car after the shooting, according to evidence that neither side disputed. An autopsy and toxicology tests showed Woodard had a lethal amount of cocaine in his system as well as alcohol, the opioid painkiller hydrocodone and marijuana.
‘I couldn’t believe what I was seeing’
The defense contends that Woodard’s possession of drugs gave him an incentive to flee from Seelinger by driving away.
Woodard’s family and supporters pushed for a charge of murder. The death of Woodard, 43, who was Black, led to protests in Erie, with many demonstrators connecting the case to the Black Lives Matter movement. The Fraternal Order of Police has criticized Hirz’s decision to charge Seelinger.
Seelinger’s trial is expected to continue at least through the end of the week. Judge John J. Trucilla is presiding.
In her testimony on Oct. 6, Chamell Henderson recounted the events that preceded the shooting. She said that Woodard had picked her up earlier in the evening, but she had asked him to go back to her apartment to get her car because she believed Woodard had been drinking.
Woodard parked his car across the street from her apartment, Henderson testified. She said she saw bright lights shining from a vehicle behind Woodard’s car. Henderson said she later learned the vehicle was Seelinger’s minivan.
“I got out of the car,” Henderson testified. “I heard someone say, ‘Marchello, state parole.'”
Henderson said she soon heard the three shots. She said the incident left her bereft at the scene.
“I was hysterical,” Henderson testified. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”
Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@usatodayco.com or 814-870-1813.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Woodard’s girlfriend recounts fatal shooting in Kevin Seelinger trial
Reporting by Ed Palattella, Erie Times-News / Erie Times-News
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This story was originally published October 6, 2026 at 5:01 PM.