The girlfriend of Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. suffered a fractured neck vertebra and a cut above her right eye when she was assaulted in a hotel room, New York City prosecutors said Tuesday at Porter’s arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Porter, 23, is facing charges of felony assault and strangulation following the incident, alleged to have taken place Monday at the Millennium Hilton. He was not required to enter a plea at the arraignment and is scheduled to return to the Manhattan courtroom on Oct. 16.
Bail was set at $75,000. He also must stay away from the woman.
Field Level Media, as policy, does not name the victims of alleged sexual assaults.
Prosecutors painted a scenario on Tuesday of what happened between Porter and the woman, saying her move to run into the hotel hallway, covered in blood, finally is what forced him to stop.
Porter stands accused of hitting the woman in the face and choking her, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the New York Post.
“Upon arrival, officers were informed that a 26-year-old female sustained a laceration to the right side of her face and was complaining about pain to her neck,” the spokesperson said, per ESPN. “A preliminary investigation on scene determined that a known individual struck her multiple times upon her body and placed his hands around the neck.”
The Rockets and the NBA both released brief statements regarding the situation with Porter.
“We are in the process of gathering information surrounding the matter involving Kevin Porter Jr.,” the Rockets said in a statement Monday. “We have no further comment at this time.”
“The league office is in contact with the Houston Rockets and in the process of gathering more information,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said Monday.
Porter has averaged 15.3 points, 5.0 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 196 career games (146 starts) with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2019-20) and the Rockets.
He signed a four-year extension last October that is worth up to $82.5 million with incentives. His $15.9 million salary for the upcoming 2023-24 season is fully guaranteed, as is another $1 million for the following season that kicked in on July 1, per Spotrac.
–Field Level Media
