PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A social justice group bailed a man accused of domestic violence charges against his ex-girlfriend out of jail, only for him to be charged with her murder a week later.
Mohamed Adan, 33, is accused of murdering 36-year-old Rachael Angel Abraham, the mother of his children, after a group of activists bailed him out. Officials determined her cause of death as homicide by strangulation.
KOIN 6 News has learned that the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office is asking the Portland Freedom Fund, which bailed the suspect out of jail twice, for the remaining $18,000 in bail.
In a statement to KOIN 6, Portland Freedom Fund said “the court had deemed (Adan) eligible for bail release and he was referred to us as a financial provider for two small children with a letter of community support. Along with support he was receiving from the community, we were in contact with Mr. Adan throughout the time between his release and re-arrest and did not receive any indications for concern.”
Abraham’s neighbor, Mohamed Mohamed says he feels bad after learning what happened to the woman he’d known for years. He’s also frustrated because he feels like the system failed her.
“I feel like they failed her at some point, they should have seen what kind of man he was,” he said. ‘I feel this would have been different if people didn’t ignore the situation.”
Adan has been charged with second-degree murder. He had been charged with domestic violence in May, then was charged with strangulation a month later.
According to court documents from the June incident, Abraham reported Adan “punched her in the head two times while she was laying on the couch in the living room.” She believed Adan was intoxicated when he assaulted her. Documents also say there was one point during the altercation where Adan drug Abraham to the ground and “I’m going to put you to sleep” while kneeling on her throat,” before threatening to kill her.
The D.A.’s office says getting the rest of Adan’s bail from the Portland Freedom Fund won’t require a civil action, just a judge to agree with their motion.
“The law is permissive such that the court could choose to ask for the full sum of the bail, or not. By bailing out a suspect as a third party, you make yourself subject to this possibility,” Elisabeth Shepard from the D.A.’s office said. “We have asked that PFF pay the full bail sum, the remainder of which is $18k. It will not require a civil action, just for a judge to agree with our motion. I am not sure when that will take place at this time.”
Gubernatorial candidate Betsy Johnson said the suspect “wouldn’t have been on the streets if he hadn’t been bailed out by a far-left organization that wants to abolish the police.”
“He tried to kill the mother of his children once and then succeeded because left-wing extremists served as his accomplices,” she said.
Tina Kotek’s campaign told KOIN 6 News that “Mr. Adan was an ongoing threat and should’ve remained behind bars at least until his trial. As Governor, Tina would welcome proposals to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.”
Republican candidate Christine Drazen said that the “murder of Racheal Angel Abraham was entirely preventable. The district attorney, the court, and the police all agreed her murderer should not be on the street, but a left-wing interest group chose to bail him out anyway. Rachael should be alive today. Instead, she died a violent death because radical activists let political agendas get in the way of what is best for public safety.”
KOIN 6 reached out to multiple Oregon lawmakers to see if they want to change the laws on how bail works and didn’t hear back.