The mother of 3-year-old Porchia Bennett — who was allegedly beaten, choked and starved to death at the hands of other relatives — surrendered to police Tuesday, officials said.
Tiffany Bennett, 27, is charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child and four counts of conspiracy related to that crime, said Cathie Abookire, spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office. Bennett was arraigned Tuesday and her bail was set at $100,000. She will have a preliminary hearing Sept. 4.
The mother left her four daughters — Porchia and a 10-, 6- and 4-year-old — in the care of their aunt, Candice Geiger, 18, and her boyfriend, Jerry Chambers, 31. Both are charged with Porchia’s murder, conspiracy, possession of an instrument of crime and other offenses, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Chambers is also charged with attempted murder for allegedly beating the 10-year-old, police said.
The couple is being held without bail, and were arraigned Friday. At their preliminary hearing yesterday, Assistant District Attorney Richard Sax asked for a continuance to Sept. 22 and 23 for a protracted preliminary hearing.
At a press conference about the case, District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham said, "Everybody in the city, I think, is stunned and horrified at the fact that children could live in what amounts to a chamber of horrors. These little children suffered incredibly."
Porchia was buried Saturday at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Southwest Philly, following a service at Lovely Baptist Church.
A fund has been established to help pay for funeral expenses and aid her three sisters. Send checks to: The Porchia Bennett Assistance Fund c/o Wachovia Bank, 123 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106, Attn: Veda Alston.
Man found dead at Vet
Police are probing the suspicious death of a Bensalem man found inside his car in the Veterans Stadium parking lot on the morning of the Eagles-Patriots game.
The 52-year-old was discovered around 10:30 a.m. Friday, said Sgt. Steve Biello of South Detective Division.
Medic 27 pronounced the victim dead at the scene.
The victim’s vehicle was held as a crime scene and towed to a police garage, pending autopsy results, Biello said.
To report information, call South Detectives at 215-686-3013.
Murder fugitive nabbed
Almost a year after the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old local man, homicide investigators nabbed the suspect they have sought since last fall.
Last week, Henry Hill, 21, from the 2700 block of Reed Street, was arrested and charged with the murder of Lance Harris, said Capt. Charles Bloom of the Homicide Division.
Harris was gunned down Sept. 29, four blocks from his home on the 1500 block of Ringgold Street, the captain said.
Police found the victim with a single gunshot wound to the chest on the 2700 block of Tasker Street. Harris was pronounced dead a half-hour later, police said.
Investigators said an argument led to the shooting.
Meeting ends in stabbing
A 20-year-old ended up stabbed and robbed when he accompanied a female friend to the area of 15th and Manton to meet another man and woman, police said.
But events didn’t go as planned. When the four met up minutes after midnight Tuesday, the second man pulled out a knife, stabbed the victim in the right arm and side, and swiped his bag, said Sgt. Steve Biello of South Detectives.
The victim ran for help and the offender took off, the sergeant said. The man was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he was in stable condition.
To report information, call South Detectives at 215-686-3013.
Man surrenders in ATV crash
The operator of an all-terrain vehicle who is accused of running over a police officer — breaking both his legs — surrendered to police Tuesday night, officials said. Damien Washington, 24, from the 2600 block of Ellsworth Street, is charged with attempted murder and related offenses in the Aug. 13 incident, said a Central Detective Division investigator working the case, who did not want her name to appear in print.
Last Thursday, Central Detectives served an arrest warrant at Washington’s home through a SWAT team, the detective said. Five days later, the fugitive surrendered to an officer he knew from the 17th District, the detective said.
Officer Eric Derenzis, 31, suffered his injuries when Washington allegedly struck him on 12th Street near Sansom, knocking him into a parked car, police said.
Washington and a companion were allegedly speeding through Center City streets in their respective ATVs before the other man hit a car stopped in traffic at 13th and Sansom streets, police said. That man abandoned his ATV and escaped, while Washington drove off on 12th Street, according to reports.
When Derenzis tried to stop him, police said he intentionally ran into the officer and then fled the scene. According to the detective, one of Derenzis’ legs was shattered from the knee down and the other had a compound fracture; both ankles were broken.
Derenzis was released from Jefferson Hospital on Tuesday, but is still confined to a wheelchair, the detective added.
Beanie makes his case
Assuming, of course, that a defendant would never lie under oath, the mystery of exactly where Beanie Sigel resides may have been resolved once and for all last Thursday.
At one of his many preliminary hearings of late, the 29-year-old rap star told Municipal Court Judge Alan Silberstein he lives on the 2100 block of Mifflin Street. This after police, court records and even residents in and around 21st and Sigel streets all claimed at least three different addresses for Sigel.
The defendant ended up waiving his right to the preliminary hearing for the July 1 attempted murder of a man outside a West Philly bar. Police say Terrance Speller, 26, nearly died after being shot in the abdomen and foot.
Sigel was held for court on all charges and will now stand trial in Common Pleas Court. But first, he faces an arraignment Sept. 10.
On Monday, Sigel appealed his federal detention hearing for an indictment earlier this month on gun and drug charges, stemming from an April 20 traffic stop in South Philly. He has been held without bail in federal custody since July 14.
In an unusual and surprise move, co-counsel Cheryl A. Krause asked U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick to send her client for in-patient drug and psychological counseling.
Citing Sigel’s "devotion to family and the South Philadelphia community" and his record of charitable work for inner-city children and African-American colleges, Krause issued the proposal after presenting testimony from Sigel’s mother, a friend and Roc-A-Fella record company executive Damon Dash.
Surrick responded by saying she did not doubt Sigel’s devotion to his family, but the overriding issue was that the defendant can’t seem to stay out of trouble with the law, officials said.
Surrick recessed the hearing and gave Sigel’s lawyers until 2 p.m. yesterday to come up with a formal proposal. The results of that proposal were not available by press time.
