Erie residents press county leaders for action in Marcello Woodard case; calls for arrest, civil-rights review

Several Erie residents used the Oct. 21 public-comment period at the Erie County Council meeting to demand action in the Marcello Woodard case and to warn that community trust is fraying.

Bridal Tepper, an Erie resident, urged people to register and vote as a way to seek justice and said, “if we want justice in our world, in our community, we should vote.” Tepper also advised voters to check mail-in ballot addresses and the status of ballots online to avoid disenfranchisement.

Deonte Quilly, a lifelong Erie resident, described the community as divided and said public debates on social media were undermining efforts to seek justice. “Our rights as human citizens [are] being violated to where we have an opportunity to file for a civil rights case against the county executive and the county council because at this point, y'all playing games with our lives,” Quilly said.

Malcolm Pulliam, an Erie resident, urged immediate action and called for an arrest, saying he viewed the case as an instance of “a white man getting away with murder of a Black man.” “He needs to be arrested,” Pulliam said.

Speakers repeatedly noted the length of time since the incident (one caller said it was “day 111”) and pressed the council to consider the impact of inaction on public trust and community safety. No formal law-enforcement action was taken during the meeting; the public comments were made during the meeting’s comment period and no council motion or resolution addressing the case was recorded on the agenda for Oct. 21.