BALTIMORE _ The Maryland State Police and Baltimore Police are planning to conduct a joint review of the death of city homicide detective Sean Suiter, Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said.
Harrison told The Baltimore Sun that he asked Maryland State Police Superintendent William M. Pallozzi in recent weeks to have troopers look at the case, and Pallozzi agreed. The review has not begun, Harrison said.
The move follows an outcry from Suiter's family that the unsolved case was being ignored. A previous outside review of the case by a panel of experts concluded that Suiter most likely took his own life, and the city homicide unit in recent months had removed the lead investigator without replacing him. But Suiter's death remains classified as a homicide by the state medical examiner's office.
Elena Russo, a spokeswoman for the state police, said the discussions were "preliminary" but would involve troopers and city police jointly reviewing the case.
"MSP will not be assuming responsibility for the investigation," Russo said.
Suiter's attorney Jeremy Eldridge said Harrison told him and Suiter's widow that Baltimore Police officers "who were not involved in the investigation to begin with" would work with the troopers.
"The fact that the new commissioner has taken some affirmative steps to investigate Sean's death is something I and the family are very optimistic about," Eldridge said. "This is the first movement in the case in a very long time."
Suiter was shot in the head and killed in November 2017, after he darted into a vacant lot in West Baltimore while investigating with another detective. A six-figure reward was quickly offered, but the investigation stalled. It was later revealed that Suiter was shot one day before he was to appear before a federal grand jury investigating the Gun Trace Task Force corruption scandal.
Over time, some within the police department began to believe the evidence suggested Suiter took his own life. Police say he was shot with his own gun, which was under his body when he was rolled over, and that no suspect DNA has been found. A convicted Gun Trace Task Force officer testified that he stole money with Suiter years earlier.
The Independent Review Board, created by then-Commissioner Darryl De Sousa, said they believed Suiter was concerned about possible exposure for alleged misconduct of his own.
"The evidence simply does not support anyone other than Detective Suiter himself firing the fatal shot. Nor does the evidence support a conclusion that Detective Suiter fired that shot accidentally. That leaves only this tragic scenario," the Independent Review Board wrote in its 127-page report last year.
Here are the major takeaways from panel report on Baltimore Police Det. Suiter's death
Suiter's family has expressed frustration about the handling of the case, saying the well-regarded detective did not kill himself and was in good spirits in the days and weeks before his death. His widow, Nicole, has said that she believes the case could be an "inside job" that is being covered up.
Last year, a video also emerged showing a federal informant gave police information about a possible suspect, though police said the lead was pursued and deemed not credible.
Contacted Wednesday, Nicole Suiter said she was cautiously optimistic about the state police review.
"So far, yeah, it sounds good," she said. "But you know how it turned out the last time. We just have to wait and see the outcome."
