When Zakira Porter was arrested in May 2022 as a suspect in a gas station shooting, cops noticed marks all over her 8-year-old daughter’s body.
That led to a second criminal case.
For the child’s injuries, she is charged with aggravated battery, neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, battery resulting in serious bodily injury and battery on a person less than 14 years old.
Porter, 38, of Crown Point, formerly of Gary, pleaded not guilty.
However, when the trial started Monday, she again refused to leave her jail cell and is being tried in absentia.
Deputy Prosecutors Chris Bruno and Michelle Jatkiewicz allege Porter whipped the girl, now 11, repeatedly with an extension cord in an empty room when she didn’t get the right answers as she was homeschooled.
A medical doctor estimated the girl was hurt “head to toe” with marks, scars and bruises, Bruno said in opening arguments.
At the home in Gary, cops found red and brown stains, plus splatter marks. An extension cord had the girl’s DNA on it, the prosecutor said.
Defense lawyer Sonya Scott-Dix told the jury it was only “allegations” and Porter doesn’t legally “have to prove anything” at trial. She said prosecutors couldn’t prove the case.
The girl testified Monday that only Porter hit her with the cord.
“Hi,” she told Jatkiewicz after she was sworn in by a bailiff. The child pointed out her Minnie Mouse backpack in pictures of her former room.
The girl said Porter would throw her across a room, put her on the floor and hit her, and deny her food or permission to go to the bathroom.
Porter would use the cord, belt or a hairbrush to beat her, or periodically choke her against the wall, the girl said.
What would you say to her, Jatkiewicz asked.
“I’m sorry,” the child replied.
On cross-examination, the girl told Scott-Dix that she didn’t trip and fall over toys. When asked about falling other times, the girl said she couldn’t remember. She denied telling an officer at the Hobart Police Station that she felt “safe” with Porter.
When asked if her father “whooped” her just before her injuries were discovered, the child claimed he beat her later, when she was 10.
Who hit you, Jatkiewicz later asked.
“Just my mom,” the girl replied.
The trial continues Tuesday.
Porter refused to get dressed in her jail cell last week for a pretrial hearing, filings show.
While Hobart Police were investigating Porter for the shooting, an Indiana Department of Child Services caseworker set to meet with her 8-year-old daughter at the police station on May 27, 2022, saw “extensive evidence of child abuse” all over her body, charges state.
The child told the caseworker Porter hit her regularly with an extension cord, including the day before, documents allege. She first noticed the child’s hands, but other wounds were covered by clothing. The girl was taken to the hospital for treatment.
A nurse told police the child limped at the hospital, telling her Porter hit her with cords “when mad,” documents state. She had wounds that were at different points in healing.
A doctor told officers the child had an “old clavicular fracture” — between the shoulder and breastbone — likely from being beaten previously with an extension cord. When police photographed the girl for evidence, they saw “extensive scarring” and “likely permanent disfigurement” all over her body, charges state.
Porter had a prior DCS case file opened against her in October 2019 in Marion County after the child went to school with a swollen and bruised eye, documents state. The girl told caseworkers her mother beat her after she urinated on the floor.
Porter declined to cooperate with caseworkers, saying the child fell and hurt herself, documents show.
The caseworker told police the child only attended school for two weeks before she was pulled out of the school, the affidavit states.
Hobart Police were called just after 5:30 p.m. on May 27, 2022, to a Luke Oil gas station, 3211 W. 37th Ave.
A man told police he went inside at the same time as Porter and “jokingly” said that she almost hit him with the door.
Once they left, Porter began to yell expletives at him.
“Have a blessed day,” he replied.
She said she had a gun and would shoot him, documents state. He responded there wasn’t a need to shoot over something “so small,” the affidavit states.
Porter then pulled out a pink and silver revolver, firing two to three shots at him while he waited for his kids to exit the gas station, documents state. A couple of witnesses and security video appeared to corroborate the man’s story, who appeared to duck at one point, the affidavit states.
Police did not find any bullet holes in the man’s vehicle.
A woman in a jean jacket and grey sweatpants — later identified as Porter — fled in a red GMC van. She was pulled over and arrested on W. 39th Street with her daughter in the van, documents state.
She faces a trial in February for the shooting.
mcolias@post-trib.com
