A 9-month-girl was killed and her mother was injured after the baby’s father burst into an Ohio home, days after his former partner had filed a second report about his alleged harassment.
Cleveland.com reports that Alice Porter was fatally shot on Saturday, allegedly by her own father, Martin Porter, who also died of what police believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The suspect also allegedly shot Alice’s mother, 27-year-old Sarah Smith-Carter. The mother was shot in the leg and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The grieving mother told Cleveland.com that she had concerns about her former partner and had filed two complaints earlier this month for his alleged telecommunications harassment. Police told the news outlet that Porter had come to the Brooks Park police station to be served the initial complaint, but died and allegedly killed his daughter before he responded to the second.
Carter told the news outlet that her 6-year-old daughter Sienna and two other children, whose relationship to the victims is not known, hid under a bed after Martin Porter burst into the Brooks Park home on Saturday. He is also Sienna’s father, according to the report.
“I’m just glad they were under the bed and didn’t see him shoot me,” Carter said, adding that she believes Porter may have shot Sienna if he had seen her. “That would’ve been more traumatizing for them.”
Local news station WJW reported that Alice Parker was in her car seat when she was found mortally wounded following her mother’s 911 call, but it is unclear where exactly she was at the time she was fatally shot.
In addition to the complaints made earlier this month, police reports show that Carter had claimed on October 24 that Porter had been harassing her and showing up to her home uninvited.
The mother told Cleveland.com that she broke off her relationship with Porter about a month before Alice was born, due to a domestic incident while pregnant with her daughter. Carter reportedly had concerns about Porter’s mental health and recommended to his relatives that he no longer have access to guns. But she said his family didn’t take her seriously, and also that she herself may have underestimated the threat.
“I didn’t really see this coming, but I had a feeling he would harm himself, if not Alice,” Carter told Cleveland.com.
Carter reportedly said she had filed for an order of protection against Porter but that it wasn’t granted because Porter had not made any threats to harm her.
The grieving mother now wants to speak out about a system that she believes does not protect victims enough.
“I just want to bring attention to the fact that there are people that are very manipulative and know how to threaten you legally,” Carter told Cleveland.com. “And there should be a way for people, not just women, to be able to be protected when they feel that their life is in danger.”
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