PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia parking officer blames the Pennsylvania's Department of Corrections for releasing an inmate during the COVID pandemic who allegedly later shot him in the head, days after shooting a gas station attendant in New York.
In November, Timothy McKenzie sued the DOC and the state Board of Probation and Parole and two of its employees over the 2020 release of Termaine Saulsbury. It is alleged parole officer Latrice Mewborn and her supervisor Kimberlyann Mackey failed to keep tabs on Saulsbury, leading to a pair of shootings.
Saulsbury was found in December 2022 and arrested in the shootings of a man in the Bronx and McKenzie. He never should have been on the streets, McKenzie's lawsuit says.
He had been denied parole in July 2019, with the board indicating he was a risk to the community.
"In March 2020, the number of inmates granted parole in Pennsylvania increased dramatically due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic," the suit says.
"On July 21, 2020, Saulsbury, again, came due for a parole review. This time, however, parole was granted, although the community risk assessment was not noted in the board's decision."
On parole, Mewborn and Mackey failed to adequately track his movements, the suit says, leading Saulsbury to be placed on a Most Wanted Absconders list. In November 2022, he allegedly shot Zulfiqar Alvi at a Sunoco then moved on to Philadelphia, where his alleged attack on McKenzie was caught on surveillance camera. The shooter walks up behind McKenzie and shoots him for seemingly no reason.
The parole board is accused of ignoring Saulsbury's alleged violent history that includes an attack on a prison guard and an armed robbery of a Wawa.
"Rather than following the required factors which overwhelmingly supported the denial of parole for Saulsbury, the Board elected to grant his parole in order to further their goal of reducing the prison population due to the COVID-19 pandemic," the complaint say.
"The Board's decision to grant parole to Saulsbury created a foreseeable risk of harm to individuals in Plaintiff's position."
The lawsuit charges the defendants with state-created danger, plus so-called Monell violations. They are alleged when institutional policies create a danger.
"Defendants, at all relevant times, knew of the danger to society that would likely arise from losing track of parolees in their charge," the suit says. "Despite this knowledge, Defendants have consistently, for years prior to this incident, maintained an average of nearly 1,500 parolee absconders at any given time."
Policies, practices, customs and training do not adequately provide for the tracking of parolees, the suit says. Benjamin Hoffman of Clearfield & Kofsky represents the plaintiff.
The DOC and parole board have already moved to dismiss the complaint, writing Jan. 10 that Monell claims apply to municipalities - not state agencies. They also claim they are not "persons" who can be sued in this case.