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Members of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee heard testimony about聽a measure named to honor slain Baltimore Police Officer Keona Holley on Tuesday.
The Officer Keona Holley Public Safety Act, or聽, would make people ineligible for parole if they are convicted of conspiring to, attempting to or committing the murder of a police officer because of their role in law enforcement.
鈥淭his was not a shooting that was done in the course of a crime to which Officer Holley had responded,鈥� said Sen. Robert G. Cassilly (R-Harford), the bill鈥檚 sponsor. 鈥淭his was not a bank robbery gone bad 鈥� no, Officer Holley was targeted and shot in cold blood, in deliberation, solely because Officer Holley was a police officer.鈥�
鈥淭his bill would not apply to those cases where, for example, a shootout occurs in the course of a robbery gone wrong,鈥� Cassilly explained. 鈥淚t specifically targets those who target those who serve the public.鈥�
Holley was shot while sitting in her patrol car in the early morning hours of Dec. 16, according to Baltimore police.
Supporters of the bill include Baltimore Police Chief Michael Harrison, the Baltimore City chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police and the Maryland chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police.
Holley鈥檚 mother, sister and two of her four children sat in the front row of the committee room.
鈥淏ecoming a police officer was not just a job for her or a paycheck,鈥� her sister, Lawanda Sykes, told the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. 鈥淪he went out every day and left her four children to make a difference within the community of Baltimore City.鈥�
Sykes offered emotional testimony about what her family was stripped of when Holley was killed last year: a 鈥済oal-setter,鈥� a hard worker and charitable to anyone in need.
Two men have been charged for her death.
鈥淥n Dec. 16, 2021, I remember looking at the clock right before bed and it read 12:34 a.m.,鈥� she said.
Sykes explained that she and Holley shared 鈥渁ngel numbers鈥� 鈥� or numbers read in sequences that the pair found meaning in. To Sykes and Holley, 12:34 was one of those.
鈥淚 thought to myself I hadn鈥檛 called her that day, and I wish I could have because I didn鈥檛 get the chance to have that last conversation with her,鈥� Sykes said.
Nearly an hour later, Sykes got a call from her mother who said officers were on their way to get her because her sister had been shot.
鈥淚t was my worst fear, and I鈥檝e been living in a nightmare since that night,鈥� she said.
Holley died on Dec. 23, 2021, at 4:44 p.m. 鈥� 鈥渨hich is another angel number we shared,鈥� said Sykes. 鈥淭o me, that meant my sister had done her job she was at peace and she was at rest.鈥�
Sen. Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore City), who, in large part, led a charge for the police reform package passed by the legislature in 2021, thanked Holley鈥檚 family for appearing before the committee.
鈥淪he鈥檚 exactly 鈥� what we want in a police officer,鈥� said Carter.
Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chair William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery) told the family that the committee was 鈥渋mmeasurably sad for their loss.鈥�
鈥淗er story is very inspirational because she, obviously, joined to change things within the system and to break down those barriers between communities of color and policing and she鈥檚 exemplary of a true public servant,鈥� he said.
