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When it was originally introduced to the Senate, the Officer Keona Holley Public Safety Act (S652) was designed to remove the option of parole for people convicted of conspiring, attempting or committing the murder of a police officer.
Now, the bill focuses on expanding state funds to provide college scholarships to children of first responders who were killed in the line of duty – and Holley’s family is not happy
"We're extremely disappointed about the way the bill was amended," said Lawanda Sykes, Holley's sister to WBAFF. "We would like her name removed from the bill."
Senate Democrats brought up an amendment to the bill after raising concerns about its wording during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, March 30, WMAR reports. The amended bill later passed the Senate in a 26-16 vote.
“You completely took everything away of any criminal charges and slapped us in the face with an extension to a scholarship fund,” Sykes continued, according to WBAFF.
Sykes went on to say the bill is making a mockery of Holley, who was killed by two men while sitting in her patrol car in the early morning hours of Dec. 16, 2021. Both of those men are in police custody.
Senator Bob Cassily, who sponsored the bill, expressed his discontent in a statement through the Maryland Senate Republican Caucus.
“Today is a sad day in the history of the Maryland Senate,” Cassily said. “I thought we had seen the worst of anti-police sentiment, but I was wrong and frankly shocked that my Democratic colleagues would allow parole for cop killers. Our law enforcement officers deserve our support, but instead they received yet another slap in the face from the General Assembly.”
More information about the bill can be found here.
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