Man charged in slaying at Camden chicken shop is arraigned

A Camden man who authorities say fatally shot a bystander at a fast-food eatery last month was arraigned Wednesday on a charge of aggravated manslaughter.

David Porrata, 33, was found by the U.S. Marshals Service on Tuesday night hiding in a Camden apartment, where a relative had been bringing him food. He had ignored calls from family members to turn himself in, Assistant Prosecutor Christine Shah told Superior Court Judge Irvin J. Snyder.

Porrata allegedly shot Franklin Parker, 36, also of Camden, at a Crown Fried Chicken on the 200 block of South Broadway around 5 a.m. on April 27. The shooting began as an altercation between Porrata, a friend and a group of other men.

Parker and a woman, who had been sitting together in a booth, tried to escape the restaurant when violence broke out, but Parker was hit by a stray bullet. Officers responding to a report of men fighting, found him lying in the street. He was pronounced dead at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

A second person, Najee Dowe, was wounded but survived, authorities said.

Porrata was the only person in the fight who used a handgun, according to court documents. He and a friend were seen fleeing in a Dodge Ram, which was returned to a rental car company the next day by two unidentified men.

Porrata, who has a conviction for a drug charge, according to Shah, was being held in the Camden County Jail on $750,000 bail.

A witness, who has known Porrata for some time, identified him as the shooter. The fight and shooting also were captured on a store surveillance camera, authorities said.

Mayor Dana L. Redd's administration had been pushing to impose a business curfew, citing a connection between crime and gatherings at late-night businesses such as take-out restaurants. City officials passed an ordinance last year that would require many businesses in residential zones or within 200 feet or a residential zone to close between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. on weekdays and between midnight and 6 a.m. on weekends.

The curfew has yet to be enforced, and a lawsuit filed by city activist Frank Fulbrook to reverse the ordinance is pending.

Contact Darran Simon at 856-779-3829 or dsimon@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @darransimon.