Deaths on the streets: Homeless homicides in Portland eclipse 2021

Homeless homicides (wider photo size)

Photos of unhoused people who have died by homicide in Portland in 2022.

As the sun rose over downtown Portland on a recent Sunday, police found the body of 51-year-old Jill S. Krahling and a pool of blood below a bench in Chapman Square.

She had been stabbed to death, one block from City Hall.

Officers haven’t announced any arrest in Krahling’s Oct. 9 homicide, but one detail has emerged that unites her death with at least 14 others so far this year: She was homeless.

It’s been a particularly bloody year for Portland, and even more so for unhoused people. The city has recorded 82 homicides so far in 2022, putting it on pace to exceed last year’s record of 92, and the victims in 18% of this year’s homicides have been people experiencing homelessness. That compares with 11% last year.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, the police commissioner, said through a spokesperson last week that the city was exploring options to provide better services and protection to homeless people, although he has yet to provide any details on how he would keep them safe.

The mayor seeks to ban tents on public property and instead create large sanctioned camps, according to a Willamette Week report last week. Many unsheltered people have said they feel less safe when forced to live with hundreds of other people in close quarters, even if outside.

“The string of recent homicides of homeless individuals over the past few weeks is heartbreaking and Mayor Wheeler is following these cases closely,” spokesperson Cody Bowman said in a written statement. “Homeless Portlanders have been victim to ongoing violence at an alarming rate this year.”

With nearly 700 unsanctioned encampments across the city, each with about three tents or more, Wheeler’s spokesperson said it is “very difficult for our community safety partners to respond to make it safer for people living outside.” Nine of the 15 homicides occurred in or near downtown or Old Town.

Police have arrested alleged killers in six of the cases. In four of those six cases, the accused were also experiencing homelessness, according to a review of court records, interviews at homicide scenes and a statement from the mayor’s office.

Advocates for people experiencing homelessness believe more should be done to protect unhoused people. Until the remaining nine cases bring arrests, they also reject the idea that the crimes largely stem from unhoused people harming other unhoused people. In a statement Oct. 11, Wheeler initially attributed “a larger portion of these incidents” to other homeless people.

COMMUNITY POLICING

One man experiencing homelessness in Old Town named Brett said keeping people housed is the best way to keep them safe from crime. The 65-year-old declined to share his last name because he doesn’t want police to target him.

“I don’t think there’s anything police can do to make people safer since they don’t respond until after the shooting stops or if you call them if someone gets robbed, they don’t come out and they will sit and watch until things are over before they intervene,” he said.

Police Lt. Nathan Sheppard, a spokesperson for the Police Bureau, said officers shouldn’t shoulder primary responsibility for the problem.

“In the arena of addressing homelessness and providing services etc., the Portland Police Bureau is the last link of the chain,” he wrote in an email. “There are so many levels and programs that should address homelessness, services and response issues before police are called to respond.”

While most everyone agrees the best way to keep unhoused people safe is to provide affordable housing and secure shelters, thousands of people sleep on the streets of Portland more exposed to potential violent crime than their housed counterparts. On Wednesday, Wheeler announced that the average wait time for many subsidized affordable housing units is five years, and that it can take up to 10 years.

Kat Mahoney, director of Sisters of the Road, which provides free food and other support to unhoused people in Old Town, said officers also can use community policing to create safer neighborhoods in the meantime.

Unhoused people often call police when they feel threatened, but they report to her that police don’t respond fast enough or at all, Mahoney said. And when they do show up, Mahoney said there have been times when police don’t engage with or listen to people who try to share details about the incident. Wait times for all 911 callers in Portland increased 47% from 57 seconds to 84 seconds between August 2021 and August 2022, according to a city report.

“We have bike cops and other cops specifically designated for (the Old Town neighborhood) but they just drive by in their cars,” Mahoney said. “Maybe if they got out of their car, they could be an actual deterrent and they could learn when people don’t feel safe and who makes them not feel safe.”

Sheppard, a police spokesperson, repeated the bureau’s common response that staffing levels are low. “Whereas community policing is always our goal, it’s also one that requires more officers,” Sheppard said.

Mahoney said she sees criminals who aren’t homeless take advantage of homeless people by forcing them to “run errands” such as delivering drugs and stealing bikes or catalytic converters. She said the unhoused individuals aren’t doing it by choice but as “payment for protection.” In exchange for the errand running, the unhoused person won’t be harmed by the person doing the exploiting and they promise to protect the unhoused person from harm from others.

“If they don’t do what they’re told, then they’re killed or their tent is set on fire,” Mahoney said.

Lauren Armony, who also works at Sisters of the Road, said she would like to see a thorough report that identifies the perpetrator in each homicide of a houseless person this year. She wants people to better understand why a homeless person might kill another person when that’s the case. Sometimes it’s drugs.

“There are even more incidents of people committing violence because they are scared or hungry or tired or sleep deprived or hallucinating, and that makes them heightened and maybe they get into a fight because they are trying to protect themselves when they feel scared,” Armony said.

GRIM TALLY

On a grassy median strip in Old Town near the Steel Bridge, police on Wednesday found another body of a man neighbors described as homeless.

It was not clear how he died, but another camper who lived near him in a cluster of tents said she couldn’t imagine her friend would initiate any fights. She declined to give her name but said the man went by “Albie.”

“He was always there for people,” she said. “If we needed someplace to stay, particularly women, he would let them stay in his tent and he would sleep outside so they could have their privacy and still feel safe. And when he had any food, he would share it with us.”

She added: “It feels like our family keeps getting killed, and it’s not right.”

Homeless people who have been killed in 2022

  1. Aaron Williams, 29, died in a shooting in Northeast Portland on Jan. 23. Police have announced no arrest. His mother told The Oregonian/OregonLive he had been homeless for about six months.
  2. Jaquan Jamaul Jenkins, 26, died in a shooting in Old Town on Jan. 28. Police have announced no arrest. A business owner and worker told The Oregonian/OregonLive Jenkins was homeless and that a suspected drug dealer shot Jenkins from his car.
  3. Richard Walloch, 71, died in a shooting Feb. 10 at a homeless camp in the Overlook neighborhood of North Portland. Police have announced no arrest. Walloch may have been living at a motel, which would qualify him as homeless under a definition service providers use.
  4. James Anthony “Tony” Wise, 46, male, died from injuries in a violent assault on Feb. 13 in Old Town. Police arrested Elijah Williams, who was not homeless, on Feb. 19. charged with murder. He is scheduled to go to trial on charges of second-degree murder in January.
  5. Andre Charles Ethel, 39, died in a shooting in the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood of Southeast Portland on Feb. 14. Police have announced no arrest.
  6. Jennifer Drain, 33, died in a shooting in Old Town on April 7. Police have announced no arrest.
  7. Fars Gebrehiwot, 29, died in a shooting under the Burnside Bridge on April 8. Police arrested Rizo Lucas on April 9 on allegations of murder. Lucas is listed as homeless in court records.
  8. Ashley Marie Smith, 31, died in a shooting on the Eastbank Esplanade after a drum circle on May 8. Police arrested Wyatt Belcher, who is not homeless, on allegations of second-degree murder. His trial is scheduled for May.
  9. Stephanie R. Hack, 38, died in a stabbing in Old Town on Aug. 2. Police arrested Judyann Edmon, who was found in a nearby tent. She faces charges of second-degree murder.
  10. Morgan Seger, 49, male, died in a stabbing Sept. 12 in the Irvington neighborhood where he lived in a van. Police have announced no arrest.
  11. Anthony Matthew Hartley died in a stabbing in Old Town on Sept. 30. Police arrested Dorian Ambrose Cannon, who is listed as homeless in court records. He faces charges of second-degree murder.
  12. Nicholas Scott Hammann, 36, died in a shooting Oct. 1 in Northeast Portland. Police have announced no arrest.
  13. Mark Anthony Davis, 53, died in a shooting Oct. 1 in Old Town. Police arrested Kalil Ford. Willamette Week reported he was living with his mom.
  14. Jill Krahling, 51, died in a stabbing on Oct. 9 in Chapman Square. Police have announced no arrest.
  15. Nathan Dotson, 30, died in a stabbing on Oct. 17 in the Hollywood District. Police arrested James David Hera at the scene. Court records list Hera as homeless.
  16. An unidentified man died Oct. 19 in Old Town. People at the scene identified him as homeless. Police had not ruled his death a homicide, as of Wednesday.

Additional people who may have been homeless who have been killed in 2022:

  1. Otis Shayne Abner, 53, died in a shooting in North Portland on Aug. 6. His daughter in Tennessee hadn’t spoken to Abner in four years but she said he was most likely homeless or experiencing housing instability. Police have announced no arrest.

Nicole Hayden reports on homelessness for The Oregonian/OregonLive. She can be reached at nhayde@oregonian.com or on Twitter @Nicole_A_Hayden.

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