Family of woman killed speaks after the man responsible is accused of shooting at police

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — After a shootout with police, a parolee with a long criminal history is locked up and the family of a woman he killed more than a decade ago is quietly cheering his removal from the streets.

32-year-old Donovan Humphrey was arrested Friday morning.

Tanja Garret says she expected more violence from the man who killed her sister and she wasn’t surprised to hear the name of Donovan Humphrey come up in the news of the wild shootout with Rochester Police.

Alex Hamilton was a teenager when his mother was killed.

“As soon as I heard the name, it took me back, flashbacks,” he recalled. “When I was running down the blocks trying to figure it out. When I had to figure out if I was my mom or not, when I found out it was my mom. When I had to sit to the trial, I knew what I was sitting for.”

Rochester Police say Humphrey shot at them, and they shot back in the early hours of the morning on Remington Street. The shootout ended when Humphrey’s gun jammed. He was arrested and nobody was hit.

But in 2008 He was convicted of manslaughter for the shooting death of Ajana Dortch, whose family knew her as “Angel,” then was released on parole in 2019, despite numerous letters from Angel’s daughter, Alexis, telling the family’s story.

“I wrote letters to the parole board, talking about how the murder of my mother caused psychological trauma on me and my brothers, emotional trauma,” explained Alexis Hamilton, “the path of our life was changed drastically because of him, how I have three kids that will never meet their grandma.”

Back in 2008, one prosecutor warned about Humphrey, “every time he’s in the street someone is at risk of dying."

Before his sentencing, Humphrey actually turned and offered an apology to the family.

“He actually apologized,” Garrett said. “But I didn’t believe it. I didn’t believe it. And now, to this day, he could’ve killed someone else, and it could’ve been a police officer.”

“Karma,” declared Alex Hamilton. “Karma is a ‘B-word.’ That’s what I’m going to say.”

Garret said she feels joy that nobody was hurt this time.

“I am so glad, that everybody is safe,” she said. “I’m so glad they got him again. This is where he needs to be. I don’t wish death on anyone. But this is where he needs to be.“

Police advocates point out that even before Friday’s shootout, Humphrey was in violation of his parole because of an incident in 2021 in which he’s accused of assault, pistol-whipping someone, meaning he should have been locked back up already, and back when Dortch was killed, Humphrey was on probation for a previous armed robbery conviction.