March 27, 2023

A man arrested by Shreveport police in connection with a mass shooting in downtown Shreveport early Saturday, March 25, 2023, has a prior misdemeanor conviction in Caddo District Court.

 

But nothing in his case suggested he would commit a crime with deadly consequences, a review of his file shows.

 

The accused, 19-year-old Devin Owen Porter Jr., was arrested March 29, 2022, for illegal possession of stolen firearms and bonded out March 31, 2022 on a $40,000 bond set by Caddo District Judge Chris Victory.

 

“Our prosecutors found there was no evidence to support the illegal possession of stolen firearms arrest because there was no evidence in the officer’s report that the defendant had knowledge the gun was stolen,” said Ivy Woodard, Caddo District Attorney’s office spokeswoman. “The gun had been reported stolen in a vehicle burglary that occurred in November 2020. There was no evidence tying Porter in any way to the 2020 theft.

 

“Additional evidence was requested from  Shreveport Police by our prosecutors. We did not receive the items requested nor did our office receive any response. However, the District Attorney moved forward with the case to keep the stolen firearm off the street.”

 

Porter pleaded guilty October 11, 2022, to misdemeanor possession of stolen things and was sentenced by Judge Victory serve six months in Caddo Correctional Center, suspended, with supervised probation for one year, and to pay a fine of $400 and court costs.

 

Porter was arrested by Shreveport Police early Saturday, March 25, 2023, and booked into the city jail at 6:07 a.m. on a pending charge of second-degree murder. That is in connection with a shooting spree in the 200 block of Texas Street in downtown Shreveport that wounded several people and left one man, 32-year-old Jacorvin Taylor, dead.

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