In early March this year, three people were shot and killed in northeast Portland, OR, in 14 hours, and at this writing, no one has been arrested in two of the three homicide cases.
Portland police have said there’s no known connection between the three cases, but the violence has left Portland on edge and led social media to speculate that a serial killer could be on the loose.
The first shooting happened on Mon. March 3 at around 11 pm when 29-year-old Brandon Sotelo was found with gunshot wounds in northeast Portland and later died at the hospital, according to Portland’s KATU. Then, only 20 minutes later and only about 2 miles away, another man, 32-year-old Cedrell Washington, was shot and killed.
The next afternoon, Tues. March 4, another woman, Shaud’e Leigh Hutchison, 31, was shot and killed in northeast Portland, near where the two other men died.
Aaron Rene Garza, 42, Hutchison’s boyfriend, was arrested in connection with Hutchison’s death the next day. It has not so far been determined if Garza is linked to the other homicides, according to Portland’s KOIN.
Rumors of a serial killer
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Investigations into all three murders are still ongoing, and Portland police have said there’s no known connection between them. Some on social media have started to speculate a serial killer could be responsible, whether Garza or someone else.
The three shootings are particularly notable since overall gun violence has trended downward in Portland in recent years. In the first three months of last year, Portland, Oregon’s largest city, had 11 shooting deaths compared to sixth in the first three months of this year.
This isn’t the first time Portland has had a serial killer scare in recent years. Two years ago, in 2023, six women were found murdered in remote areas near Portland. Since then, Jesse Lee Calhoun, 39, has been indicted in connection with the deaths of three of those women, according to southwest Washington State news outlet The Columbian, and declared a person of interest in the remaining three cases. Calhoun pleaded not guilty.
At this writing, the investigation into Sotelo and Washington’s deaths was ongoing. Garza, meanwhile, pleaded not guilty to 2nd degree murder constituting domestic violence, according to Portland’s KATU.
Witnesses said the day Hutchison died, he made paranoid comments about his daughter “planting frequencies in his brain” and that’s why he had to shoot and kill Hutchison, according to Portland’s KATU. Witnesses also reported that Garza was paranoid about recent police activity near where the couple lived.
Published: Mar 7, 2025 06:05 pm