A 31-year-old Bronx man has been indicted on murder, kidnapping and other charges for allegedly killing his girlfriend after holding her, the mother of his child and his toddler son hostage for 48 hours earlier this year, prosecutors announced Friday.
Anthony Portis allegedly beat his girlfriend and the mother of his child for two days while his little boy was present. The mother and child escaped, but the girlfriend was left to die, prosecutors said. Her badly decomposed body wasn't discovered until more than a month later.
According to the investigation, Portis allegedly went to the building where the mother of his child, 26-year-old Nzingha Keyes, lived on March 2. He was in the hallway with neighbors and his girlfriend, 22-year-old Dominique Ben-David, when Keyes arrived with their 3-year-old son.
Portis allegedly pushed them and Ben-David into Keyes’ apartment and refused to let them leave the residence for two days. Throughout the 48 hours, Portis allegedly beat and choked Keyes, who was pregnant, and brutally beat Ben-David. Keyes managed to flee the apartment with her son two days later as Portis slept.
She didn't report the incident to police immediately, prosecutors said, though didn't offer an explanation for her delay. The child apparently wasn't hurt.
More than a month later, on April 10, detectives went to the apartment to speak with Keyes about Portis. When they approached, they saw the door was open and smelled the odor of a decomposing body. They went inside and found Ben-David's body. It wasn't clear where Keyes had been during the time between her escape and when detectives found the body of Portis' girlfriend in her home.
An autopsy found Ben-David suffered two fractures to each side of her neck. The cause of death was classified as homicidal violence.
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In addition to murder and kidnapping charges, Portis is accused of manslaughter, burglary, assault and endangering the welfare of a child. He was remanded and is due back in court in November. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the top charge against him. No attorney information for Portis was immediately available.
