Woman charged with felony murder in Albany child’s death determined unfit for trial

ALBANY — A woman charged in a child death case from last year will not go to trial immediately because of a determination that she is mentally unfit.

Dougherty District Attorney Greg Edwards said that Demeatria Porter was charged and indicted last year in connection to the death of 6-month-old Ja’kobian Davis. An autopsy performed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation showed Ja’kobian to be a homicide victim. Edwards said Porter appeared at a hearing late last week, where it was determined that she was mentally unfit to stand trial and would need to be re-hospitalized.

The scheduling of a trial date is up in the air until a physician can help to make a determination as to when Porter might be ready to stand trial, Edwards said.

Porter was charged with felony murder following the baby’s death. Officials said the child’s parents were away from their Marie Road home and left the infant in Porter’s care. The indictments included, in addition to one count of felony murder, one count each of cruelty to children in the first degree and cruelty to children in the second degree.

The indictment charged that Porter caused the baby’s death by either willfully depriving him of necessary sustenance or medical care or causing death by causing the child to hit his head and suffer blunt force trauma.