April 29, 2004
Residents react to Porter charges
On Wednesday, in the neighborhood where the two boys lived and died, anger filled the space once reserved for sadness.Posted by Norwood at April 29, 2004 07:35 AMBy midmorning, news of Jennifer Porter's arrest in the hit-and-run accident that killed 13-year-old Bryant Wilkins and his 3-year-old brother, Durontae Caldwell, began seeping into homes near N 22nd Street and E 143rd Ave.
Residents shook their heads and frowned. Some mumbled under their breath. Several cursed aloud.
"That's all?" said Vivian Limton, 40, when she learned that Porter will not face a charge of vehicular homicide. "That ain't right. That ain't right at all."
......Again and again, residents insisted that Porter had gotten an easy ride from investigators and prosecutors, that no one from this neighborhood would have been treated so gently.
"What would've happened if any one of us had accidentally run over kids in her neighborhood?" said Joseph Lively, 33, who lives on E 143rd Street.
"If the roles were reversed, we would be screwed. There isn't a man or woman in this neighborhood who would be allowed to get away with what Ms. Porter and her high-dollar lawyers are getting away with."
Connie Burton, president of the Tampa branch of the Uhuru Movement, said the group plans to demonstrate Monday morning outside Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober's office.
"This is ridiculous," Burton said of the charge against Porter and the manner in which she was arrested.
