In the early hours of a Thursday morning in Suitland, Maryland, a domestic disturbance call set in motion a tragic chain of events that would end the life of 38-year-old Michael Ricardo Minor. On October 23, 2014, Prince George's County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to a residence following a 911 call from a woman reporting a domestic assault.
She informed the deputies that Minor had assaulted her and that she believed he had a handgun when he left the home.
While the deputies were still at the scene, Minor returned and a confrontation ensued. According to police reports, Minor was instructed to keep his hands up but allegedly made furtive movements and verbally challenged the deputies to shoot him. It was during this tense encounter that Deputy First Class Kendal Wade, a four-year veteran of the sheriff's office, discharged his firearm, striking Minor. Despite being transported to a local hospital, Michael Ricardo Minor succumbed to his injuries. An investigation following the incident revealed that no weapon was found on Minor's person or at the scene.
In the wake of the shooting, Deputy Kendal Wade and another deputy present at the scene, Tiffany Pullam, were placed on administrative leave, a standard procedure in such cases. The Prince George's County Police Department took the lead on the investigation into the fatal shooting. The case was later presented to a grand jury for review, as was standard protocol for use-of-force fatalities in the county. The grand jury ultimately declined to indict Deputy Wade on any criminal charges related to the shooting.
Following the grand jury's decision, the family of Michael Ricardo Minor filed a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against Prince George's County, alleging that the shooting was unjustified. While the criminal proceedings concluded without an indictment, the final outcome of the civil suit filed by Minor's family is not publicly documented in available online sources. Years after the incident, in 2018, Kendal Wade, the deputy who fired the fatal shot, ran for the office of Prince George's County Sheriff.
