Erie, Pa (WJET/WFXP)– Friends and family of Marchello Woodard are almost certain they know what happened to him the night of July 2.
“A parole officer shot an unarmed black man in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is not okay,” said Michael Woodard, Marchello’s cousin and protest organizer with the JusticeforChello Coalition.
However, almost a month after his death, people are still looking for answers, some of which might have been answered in a video given to us.
A woman’s doorbell camera caught a glimpse of a situation on East 27th Street that night, and she believes it shows the events leading up to the fatal shooting of Woodard.
“You can see the parole officer following Chello to his house, and then you can hear the lady screaming in the background, which I believe is his fiancée, and the parole officers get out and you can clearly hear the three gunshots,” said Kristi Sweet, Chello’s neighbor and owner of the video.
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It’s hard to make out exactly what’s happening in the video, but within 20 seconds after the second man gets out of the car, three loud bangs are heard, which they believe were the shots that killed Woodard.
State police said in a report that Woodard started to drive away from the officers when they identified themselves, dragging one of them in the process, but his cousin says the video disputes that claim.
“It shows in that video, shots fired, he was not dragged. If he was dragged down the street or dragged by a vehicle, and if I took the shot, I would have turned around and checked on the well-being of the other parole officer to see if he was okay from being dragged. He said, ‘Go, get in,’” said Michael Woodard.
Until more questions are answered, Woodard said they aren’t going anywhere, and Wednesday evening, he held a protest for his cousin at a state parole office on East 18th Street.
“This is where the seed was planted to all the heartache that we’re going through right now, at the parole office. We have not heard from them. They are still out here. We need them indicted. We need them charged,” said Woodard. “We’re looking for the Pennsylvania State Police to move forward, at least have a press conference to talk to us and let us know what’s going on.”
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Protestors rallied on the sidewalk outside of the office, waving signs and chanting ‘Justice for Chello, we won’t settle.’
Woodard said he plans to continue protesting and reaching out on social media throughout the investigation.
The Erie County District Attorney’s Office and Pennsylvania State Police continue to investigate.
We reached out to the local parole office and the PA Department of Corrections to comment on the video, but they said they cannot comment on active criminal investigations.
Pennsylvania State Police was also sent the video for a chance comment, but did not reply.
If you would like to watch the full video, you can watch the file below: