Man charged with killing Garner family in 2024 crash pleads not guilty to murder
The man charged in a crash last Memorial Day that killed a Garner couple and their 8-year-old son pleaded not guilty Monday to three counts of second-degree murder.
Jordan Porter is accused of killing Tyler and Susan Campbell and fatally injuring their son, Miles, in the May 27, 2024, collision on U.S. 70 at New Rand Road. Miles, a second-grader at Aversboro Elementary School, was declared brain dead the next day.
On Monday, Porter offered to plead guilty to the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, but the assistant district attorney did not agree to the deal, court records from the arraignment show. A trial date for Porter has not yet been set.
Porter also pleaded not guilty Monday to driving while impaired and several other charges.
He pleaded guilty or responsible to other charges, including speeding and failure to stop for a steady red light.
Police have said Porter was driving a Chevrolet Trailblazer heading westbound on U.S. 70 when he ran the red light and hit the Campbells’ Mazda CX-5, which was going southbound on New Rand Road.
Shelby Porter told law enforcement officers her husband had drunk two or three beers and also smoked marijuana before the crash, The N&O previously reported.
She also said the Trailblazer’s brakes and steering “had issues,” and that the couple wanted to sell it, according to search warrants. Its last safety inspection was in 2020, according to N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles records, The N&O previously reported.
Susan Campbell’s sister, Peggy Jane Dodson Harris, was in the courtroom Monday with nurses who had worked with the family, all wearing T-shirts with the family’s picture, according to ABC11, The News & Observer’s newsgathering partner.
Harris told ABC11 after Monday’s hearing that the wreck never should have happened.
“I had to watch my nephew intubated, excavated (when a breathing tube is removed) and his organs donated at 8 years old. ... And I’m mad as hell,” she said. “He has no right to ever get out of jail. I don’t care if it’s 30 years. He never deserves to get out of jail. He killed my family,”
This story was originally published April 7, 2025 at 2:24 PM.