The murder of a parolee triggers an investigation by the MD's Probation and Parole Department

BALTIMORE — Maryland's legislature led Thursday, five months after a A Maryland parolee was murdered during a house search of a convicted sex offender.

Lawmakers are working to figure out where the Department of Probation and Parole went wrong and what will be done to prevent another tragedy like this from occurring in the future

An investigation following the death of Agent Davis Martinez revealed several deficiencies within the department. This was one of the most striking other agents had expressed concerns about the same perpetrator in the past. These concerns were never addressed by their leadership.

On May 31, Maryland parole officer Agent Davis Martinez visited the Chevy Chase home of convicted sex offender Emmanuel Sewell to report.

When Martinez did not return to the office, officers went to Sewell's apartment and found Martinez's body inside. According to a police statement, Martinez suffered multiple unknown injuries. His death was ruled a homicide.

This led to security concerns within the department.

“We look forward to finding out how this happened and how we can avoid something like this in the future,” Del said. Ben Barnes (D) of District 21.

During a hearing Thursday, Maryland Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services Carolyn Scruggs said an internal investigation following the killing found there was a lack of urgency among supervisors when concerns were raised, a lack of communication and a need for increased security measures be.

Scruggs says the department has conducted additional staff training, added warning flags in the case database for parolees with a violent history, and improved bulletproof vests and pepper spray.

According to her, the department is “continuously working to develop measures to improve conditions and provide additional protective measures for increased safety of all personnel.”

However, the union representing probation officers in Maryland is anything but satisfied.

Agents say they need more cooperation from the department and that they want to see actual policy changes based on input from agents on the ground.

“They have put forward a number of ideas, but they don't have the resources to implement them and they don't have the means to implement them,” said Patrick Moran, president of AFSME MD. “And they are being quite dishonest in some cases here.”

Additional questions were raised during the meeting about whether agents should wear body cameras and whether they should be armed.