On February 19, 2022 my son, Donnell Rochester, was killed by Baltimore City Police Officers Murray and Mauri. The officers shot Donnell multiple times while he was driving and let him bleed out on the street instead of taking him to a hospital. Donnell was only 18 years old and was a senior in high school. He was a vibrant, funny, loving young gay man and he should still be here. It has been almost a year and we still have received no justice.

In October of 2021 a law came into effect in MD that automatically sent police brutality cases to the Attorney General's Office to investigate for use of excessive force in these cases. My son Donnell's case was automatically investigated by the MD Attorney General's Independent Investigative Division and the AG found probable cause for voluntary manslaughter charges to be brought against at least one of the officers involved in Donnell's death.

Unfortunately, in the State of MD the AG's office does not have jurisdiction at this time to prosecute these cases themselves and rely on kicking it back to the State's Attorney's Office for where the incident occurred. In every case where the Attorney General found probable cause to prosecute a police officer in a brutality case in 2022, (about half of the cases that were referred to the AG) NONE of the State's Attorneys across the State of MD optioned to prosecute the killer cops. There is a Bill in the MD General Assembly (SB0290) that was submitted to correct this egregious miscarriage of justice, but that doesn't help Donnell's case at this time.

This Petition is to ask Governor Wes Moore to review the findings by the AG's office in Donnell Rochester's case and grant a jurisdictional change so that the AG can pursue the charges he felt there was probable cause for. Only the Governor has the authority to change the jurisdiction of a case until the above-mentioned bill goes through the legislative process. Please sign this petition asking Governor Wes Moore to change the jurisdiction of Donnell Rochester's case from the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office to the Office of the Attorney General, and let's get Donnell Rochester some justice!

Governor Wes Moore's Contact Information:

100 State Circle
Annapolis, MD 21401
410-974-3901
1-800-811-8336