Marchello D. Woodard, left, was shot and killed by Pennsylvania state parole agent Kevin J. Seelinger, right, on July 2, 2025. Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz is seeking a first-degree murder conviction against Seelinger in a trial that started with testimony in Erie County Common Pleas Court on Oct. 5. The defense is arguing self-defense.
GREG WOHLFORD/ERIE TIMES-NEWS
USA TODAY Network, Reuters
Pennsylvania state parole agent Kevin J. Seelinger took the stand at his murder trial and said he fatally shot parolee Marchello D. Woodard in self-defense during a compliance check in Erie in July 2025.
“I was terrified that I was going to be seriously hurt or killed,” Seelinger testified on Oct. 12 in Erie County Common Pleas Court.
Seelinger said he fired three shots as he was hanging on to the driver’s side door of Woodard’s moving car. He said Woodard drove away at about 15 to 20 mph.
Seelinger said he had to act “in an effort to not fall under the vehicle and get run over.”
“The car began to rapidly move with me inside of it, causing me to react,” Seelinger said on direct examination by his lead defense lawyer, Chad Vilushis.
Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz cross-examined Seelinger. She asked him whether he could have let go of Woodard’s car instead of shooting him as Woodard sat in his car in the 400 block of East 27th Street at about 9:45 p.m. on July 2, 2025.
“I could not say whether I could have let go or not,” Seelinger testified.
“You could have let go,” Hirz said.
“I had the ability to let go,” Seelinger said.
Trial heads to closing arguments
Seelinger was the final witness to testify at the trial, where testimony began a week ago before the jury and Erie County Judge John J. Trucilla. Closing arguments are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 13.
The District Attorney’s Office is seeking a first-degree murder conviction against Seelinger, 36, who was the state parole agent for Woodard, 43.
Hirz is arguing that Seelinger intended to kill Woodard by shooting him in the back, striking his lungs and aorta. Hirz has cited Pennsylvania law that allows intent to be inferred from the use of a deadly weapon upon a vital part of the body.
The defense is contending that Seelinger was justified in shooting Woodard in self-defense and that he acted appropriately in his professional capacity as a law-enforcement officer.
The defense is also arguing that Seelinger shot Woodard as his car drove away to flee and avoid a parole violation. Woodard was on parole for a gun and cocaine case, and the police investigation after the shooting found that he had cocaine in his car and his system – evidence that was admitted at trial.
The District Attorney’s Office is arguing that Woodard attempted to drive away because Seelinger was already firing at him.
“Did you feel you could let go safely?” Vilushis asked Seelinger on redirect examination.
“No,” he said.
Seelinger details fatal interaction with Woodard
Seelinger was on the witness stand for about an hour. He recounted how he and his partner and fellow state parole agent Aaron Osborne encountered Woodard.
The night of July 2, 2025, the two were assigned to an anti-crime task force called the Gun Working Group, which the District Attorney’s Office helps administer. Seelinger and Osborne, who testified earlier in the trial as a prosecution witness, said they saw Woodard’s car near East 25th and Ash streets and followed it to the 400 block of East 27th Street, where Woodard pulled up across the street from his girlfriend’s house.
Osborne, who was driving, stopped their state-issued minivan behind Woodard’s car. Osborne said he approached the car and saw it move toward the center of the street. Seelinger said he then approached the car and, as Woodard’s parole agent, leaned into the car to talk to him.
The driver’s side window was down, Seelinger said. He said the car was stopped but not in park.
He said Woodard exhibited “very strange behavior.”
“He was sweating,” Seelinger testified. “His eyes were bulging from his head, darting all over the place.”
‘The car began rapidly to move with me inside it’
Seelinger said he intended to detain Woodard for possible parole violations. He said he told Woodard to put the car in park, and reached inside the door to unlock it from the inside. Seelinger said he did not try to open the car door from the outside because he figured it would be locked because the car was not in park.
Seelinger said he rested on both forearms to lean into the car further. He said he was partially inside the car.
“The car began to rapidly move with me inside of it, causing me to react,” Seelinger said.
Seelinger said he fired his state-issued .45-caliber Glock pistol three times. He said he shot Woodard in the “left flank,” but did not aim at a particular body part.
On cross-examination, Hirz asked Seelinger why he shot Woodard three times.
“That is what I thought was appropriate at the time,” Seelinger said.
Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@usatodayco.com or 814-870-1813.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: “I was terrified.’ Seelinger testifies about fatally shooting Woodard
Reporting by Ed Palattella, Erie Times-News / Erie Times-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Marchello D. Woodard, top, was shot and killed by Pennsylvania state parole agent Kevin J. Seelinger, bottom, on July 2, 2025. Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz is seeking a first-degree murder conviction against Seelinger. GREG WOHLFORD/ERIE TIMES-NEWS USA TODAY Network, Reuters
Copyright Reuters or USA Today via Reuters Connect
This story was originally published October 12, 2026 at 5:50 PM.