Driver in fatal hit-and-run seeks Chapter 7 protection

More than five years after a hit-and-run that killed two children, the woman who was behind the wheel is asking a court for protection from her creditors.

In her bankruptcy filing, Jennifer Porter lists the value of her dance studio in Wesley Chapel as $100 and says her monthly income is $800. She doesn't pay taxes.

Porter's monthly expenditures, which don't include debt, total $820. Her biggest monthly expenditure is $350 for food, and she also lists expenses of $130 for a cell phone and $110 for car insurance.

Porter, 33, lives with her parents in Land O' Lakes and doesn't pay rent, according to court filings.

Her personal property is valued at $3,675. The most valuable asset is her car, a 1997 Toyota Celica GT valued at $2,700.

She lists debt of $37,961.15 due on 11 credit cards and other accounts.

Porter filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, which does not involve a repayment schedule. Instead, a trustee sells the debtor's nonexempt assets and uses the money to repay creditors.

Bankruptcy Code allows the debtor to keep certain property deemed exempt. Porter is claiming $1,975 of her $3,675 in personal property as exempt.

The filing of a Chapter 7 petition automatically stops most debt collection efforts.

On the night of March 31, 2004, Porter was driving home when she struck four siblings as the children crossed North 22nd Street at 142nd Avenue.

Bryant Wilkins, 13, and his brother Durontae Caldwell, 3, were killed. Aquina Wilkins, then 8, and Lajuan Davis, then 2, were seriously injured.

Porter drove away. Five days later, she admitted publicly that she was the driver.

The dance teacher pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident involving death, part of a plea deal. Although prosecutors asked for three years in prison, Porter was sentenced in November 2005 to two years of house arrest and three years of probation, to be served consecutively.

The sentence sparked protests. People picketed the courthouse to vent their frustration and air their belief that Porter received lenient treatment because she is white and the victims were black.

Porter's probation is scheduled to end in November 2010.