NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The front steps of Portia Pollock’s home is covered in flowers and candles following her tragic murder. Her grieving loved ones remember her for her peaceful nature and kind spirit.
“She was the kind of person who would walk out of her door on the way to work and find a homeless man asleep on the step and tell him, ‘Don’t get up. You stay here,’ and walk around him and get in her car and go to work,” said Pollock’s niece Fatima Muse.
60-year-old Pollock was stabbed outside of her home on North Dorgenois Street Tuesday morning during a carjacking. Police identified the suspect as 47-year-old Bryan Andry. Andry was arrested Friday morning after four days on the run, but Pollock’s loved ones have mixed feelings about his capture.
“This was a preventable death. I believe there were several areas where the justice system failed her,” said Muse.
Andry was out on reduced bail on two armed robbery charges from last year. A spokesperson for Judge Angel Harris, who reduced his bond, said she did so to allow him to receive drug treatment.
It was a decision that baffles Pollock’s family.
“I hope that you are having many conversations with your god right now about that decision that you made,” said Muse.
When we asked Muse if she thought the justice system failed her aunt, she said “100%, without a doubt,”.
Andry’s bond is set at $1.5 million dollars.
Pollock’s friends and family will hold a remembrance ceremony for her Sunday at Congo Square at 3 p.m.