NEW ORLEANS — Just steps away from the front door of what used to be Portia Pollock’s New Orleans home, her name is etched in cement. It’s a reminder of a woman whose neighbor Shannon Davey says brought so much life to her Seventh Ward neighborhood.
“It was a huge loss for everyone,” said Davey. “During COVID she’d go out there and drum every once in a while, and it was a cathartic release for our neighborhood.”
Last June, Pollock, 60, a beloved drummer in Congo Square and therapist, was leaving for work when she was carjacked outside her home on N. Dorgenois Street. She was stabbed in the chest before her attacker, 48-year-old Bryan Andry drove away in her car.
“What he did to Portia was so extremely violent,” said Davey.
With a criminal record dating back to at least 1991, Andry was charged with second-degree murder, armed robbery, possession of a gun by a felon and obstruction of justice. In a plea agreement Friday, Andry pleaded to a lesser charge of manslaughter and armed robbery, erasing the other charges.
“I felt infuriated,” said Davey after finding out about the plea deal.
Davey’s neighborly friendship with Pollock made that hard to accept.
“That is murder. He didn’t accidentally hit her in a car while he was drunk driving. He stabbed her. That is murder. There is nothing manslaughter about that,” said Davey.
The agreement also removes previous charges of armed robbery and possession of a gun by a felon from 2020, which Andry was out on bond for when Pollock was killed. He was supposed to be wearing an ankle monitor at the time but wasn’t.
District Attorney Jason Williams released this statement to Eyewitness News:
“Every senseless killing in our city is horrible, but we all felt a collective shock with the murder of this 60-year-old woman last year. Through the conviction via guilty plea of this defendant, we have secured justice for Ms. Portia Pollock and her family; this was done to bring them the closure they deserve to this very painful chapter.”
“She touched a lot of people’s lives,” said Davey. “She was very valuable.”
Manslaughter in Louisiana carries anywhere from ten to 40 years in prison. The original second-degree murder charge could have put Andry away for life. Sentencing is set for mid-May.