Mayor Pugh Says She Met With Widow Of Slain Baltimore Detective To Discuss Case
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Baltimore City Mayor Catherine Pugh revealed Wednesday that she and new police commissioner, Darryl De Sousa, recently met with the widow of Det. Sean Suiter to discuss his murder investigation.
Police say Det. Suiter was fatally shot with his own weapon on Nov. 15 in West Baltimore's Harlem Park neighborhood.
Many people in the community don't buy what they've heard and think it was an inside job.
While Mayor Pugh spoke about the need for an independent review panel to look into the case--the public hasn't gotten any details.
"We want to know, and she wants to know," she said.
Mayor Pugh said she and De Sousa had lunch last week with Suiter's widow to gauge whether she wanted an independent review of her husband's unsolved killing. Pugh said the widow was in favor of an independent review.
"The conversations we had were about the truth. And what I know is that Ms. Suiter wants to hear the truth, whatever that truth is," Pugh said.
The place where Duiter was killed in now littered with trash. So far, the commissioner has not said who he has hired to get to the bottom of what happened.
Commissioner De Sousa first spoke on January 19 about the importance of continuing to pursue the investigation.
"We're going to see if there's additional leads, and there's going to be complete transparency in the case," he said.
At the time of his death, Suiter was wearing his suit and badge, while investigating a triple murder in West Baltimore with a fellow detective. Officials say they observed a suspicious man, Suiter confronted him alone, then there was a brief, violent struggle. Suiter was shot in the head with his own service weapon.
It happened one day before Suiter was set to testify in front of a grand jury in a case linked to a corrupt gun task force that's sent eight officers to prison. Although authorities insist there's no connection.
RELATED: Testimony Of Detective Charged In Corruption Case Implicates Suiter In Thefts
The mayor says she's supportive of the commissioner looking to an outside body for answers.
"He is pursuing that and I encourage him to do so," Pugh added.
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