CHARLOTTE — A woman in a Mecklenburg County courtroom on Tuesday relived the day six years ago she saw her best friend get shot and killed while driving on a north Charlotte street.
In March 2019, Kendal Crank was caught in the crossfire of a shootout while her friend, Porschia Jordan, was driving right in front of her car.
Jordan said they were like sisters.
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“I kept saying, ‘That’s my sister. I’m not leaving her,’” Jordan said.
Jordan was in a silver car ahead of Crank’s red Kia on East 28th Street at a red light.
“I was sitting in the car, had the music playing and scrolling through Facebook,” Jordan told the jury.
That was when she heard gunshots.
“As I’m ducking in the car, I see a black SUV Jeep swerve around me and Kendal’s car and then I see it made a right on North Tryon,” the witness said.
Prosecutors said Adonis Smith was in that black SUV shooting at two men in a nearby parking lot and said one of the rounds he fired hit Crank.
Jordan said she drove through the intersection and took a left and knew something was wrong when Crank didn’t follow her.
“Her car tapped my car, and she didn’t follow me,” Jordan said. “She just went straight.”
Jordan testified she pulled back around and rushed up to Crank’s car.
“I didn’t see her sitting up,” Jordan said. “And I just saw a whole bunch of blood in her car and saw her slumped over the passenger seat.”
Jordan told the jury she thought the first shots came from the parking lot full of people.
Smith’s defense jumped on that, trying to prove their client in the black SUV was defending himself by firing back.
“Did you tell the private investigator that you definitely heard the first shots coming from the parking lot?” the defense attorney asked Jordan.
“Yes, because that’s where I assumed they were coming from,” Jordan said.
Another witness took the stand on Tuesday.
He said he was just about to cross North Tryon Street when he heard gunfire and saw the black SUV speed around the corner with a young man hanging out the passenger window, firing shots.
Prosecutors still have the case and plan to call more witnesses on Wednesday.
VIDEO: Mother killed in crossfire: Trial starts for first of three suspects
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