Ex-boyfriend convicted after admitting he killed Mariah Samuels
A family member of Mariah Samuels held a button in honor of her during a rally shortly after her murder. Photo by David Pierini
By Azhae’la Hanson, Reporter
David Wright was found guilty on Wednesday of the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend, Mariah Samuels, who was killed after she called police to say she was being threatened by Wright.
Wright was found guilty on all counts, including first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree murder, and past pattern of domestic violence.
The conviction was handed down one day after Wright took to the stand and admitted to the court that he shot and killed Samuels outside of her North Minneapolis home.
Wright will be sentenced to life in prison without parole on Friday.
Samuels's family said she did all she could to protect herself from Wright. Weeks prior to the shooting, Samuels filed a protection order against him. She recorded domestic abuse and harassment online from Wright up until her final hours, saying that police did nothing but serve him the order of protection.
Following her murder on Sept. 14, nearly 200 mourners marched to the 4th Precinct to remember Samuels and demand answers to how the justice system failed a woman who sought police help. Mayor Jacob Frey, Police Chief Brian O'Hara, and Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnett were criticized for what seemed to be a preventable tragedy.
“The officer who responded to Mariah's call wrote in his report that Mariah told him she felt safe,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a press conference following the verdict. “But the video revealed in the officer's body cam showed that she never said that. The look of resignation on Mariah's face as the officer said he was leaving is something I will never forget.”
Her case was compared to several others who reported their harassers to police, and supporters say they were ignored by the department. The same officer who made the initial contact with Samuels responded after the shooting and tried to revive her, a family member said, and the officer repeatedly apologized.
"This conviction holds David Wright legally accountable for the murder of Mariah Samuels, but we shouldn't even be here today,” Moriarty said. "Mariah should be alive, doing what she loved to do, spending time with her family, taking care of the animals she loved so dearly.”
Samuels worked as a pet groomer at Petco and was the preferred pet groomer for her neighbors and large extended family. She was described as gentle, loved her two sons, butterflies, and all animals, her family said.
Samuels’s family gathered to speak at the press conference along with Moriarty. Selina Owens, Samuels’s sister said the family is advocating for new policies and laws to help victims of domestic violence. They are also advocating to hold MPD accountable for her death.
“Through our faith, our determination, and our ambition, we are happy with the results that justice was served today, while it will not bring back our sister, we will always honor her and keep her spirit alive,” Owens said.