Man charged in Porter murder

Second-degree murder charges were filed today against a 29-year-old St. Paul man in the Howard Porter case, according to an AP article available on ESPN.

Rashad Arthur Raleigh was arrested and released in early June before he was charged with the murder of Porter today. He has been in police custody since mid-August on unrelated charges.

The details of the complaint are not pretty for the memory of the former Villanova great. From the AP:

Former Villanova star and Ramsey County probation officer Howard Porter was trying to trade money and crack cocaine for sex with a prostitute when he was beaten to death, according to murder charges filed Tuesday against a St. Paul man.

The AP also reported the criminal complaint filed today described the manner in which Porter was murdered:

According to the criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court, Porter accompanied a prostitute he had picked up on the street to her apartment for a "date." The woman, Tonya Evette Johnson, told police four masked men rushed in to her apartment, threw her to the floor and demanded drugs and money.

Johnson told police the four men beat Porter "real bad, God real bad" and that "there was blood everywhere," the complaint quoted her as saying. Police said they found blood spattered throughout the house.

Porter died May 26 in a Minnesota hospital after being found unconscious and unidentified in a Minneapolis alley.

Widely considered one of the greatest players to ever wear a Villanova uniform, Porter struggled with drug addiction after a seven-year NBA career.

Porter was living in Ramsey County, Minnesota and working as a probation officer at the time of his death at age 58.


You can read Let'sGoNova's previous Howard Porter coverage here.