NYPD Detective Identifies Suspect In Cold-Case Murder Of Pregnant Woman Who Died In Front Of Son
“Justice is at least on its way to being served,” Bronx Homicide Detective Robert Klein says of the 1996 case.
A pregnant New York City woman was found strangled to death, and it would take investigators over 25 years to identify and arrest the man they believe was her killer.
On Feb. 5, 1996, Jasmine “Jazzie” Porter, 36, was raped and murdered in her Bronx apartment while her then-5-year-old son, Jeremy, was present.
“My nephew was left with her body for three days,” the victim’s sister, Shaunna Porter-White, recently told WPIX, explaining Jeremy, now 32, was raised by his grandparents following his mother’s death.
Detectives were unable to identify a suspect in the case at the time and the case went cold. In late 2020, however, NYPD Detective Robert Klein received a call from a Bronx prosecutor who heard jailhouse chatter about Porter’s case, The New York Times reported.
The call prompted Klein to begin searching old case files, and he discovered there were untested fingernail clippings and scrapings collected a quarter century ago. Despite the passage of so much time, he was able to track down the forensic evidence from the medical examiner and send it to DNA databases, WNBC reported.
In August 2022, the Bronx Homicide Squad announced they had identified and arrested a suspect in Porter’s murder: Gregory Fleetwood.
According to The New York Times, Fleetwood, now 66, was a convicted killer sent to prison on a first-degree manslaughter charge in 1987.
In that case, Fleetwood admitted he strangled and then killed 25-year-old Linda Miller after he claimed they did drugs together. Like Porter, the victim was also pregnant when she died.
Fleetwood served seven years in prison and was paroled in August 1994 — just 18 months before police say he killed again.
The suspect now faces a second-degree murder charge in connection with Porter’s death, and the case is still pending, according to The New York Times.
“For families like the Porters, this [case] was never cold,” Klein said after Fleetwood’s arrest, the New York Daily News reported. “Every birthday, every holiday, every anniversary of her death, every milestone with her son — it was never cold.”
“I can’t think of anything that’s more gratifying than taking a case that’s sort of lying dormant for so long,” the veteran homicide investigator added. “Justice is at least on its way to being served. It’s sort of the pinnacle of my police career.”
