PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The suspect in a domestic violence homicide in Portland will remain in jail after being denied bail.
According to court documents, 33-year-old Mohamed Adan is accused of murdering the mother of his children after a group of activists bailed him out.
On Saturday, Adan was arrested after police found a woman dead while investigating an early morning disturbance in the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood. On Tuesday, police identified the woman as 36-year-old Racheal Angel Abraham. Officials determined her cause of death as homicide by strangulation.
Adan appeared before a judge on Monday and again by phone Tuesday morning. This time he has no bail.
In court Tuesday, Adan said repeatedly that he wanted to speak to his mother as he faced a judge.
Adan was already in jail facing harassment and contempt charges.
According to court documents, “on August 20, 2022 Amanda Trujillo of the Portland Freedom Fund posted bail on the defendant’s behalf.”
Court documents show Adan has previously faced numerous charges, including assault, DUI and criminal trespassing. He is still facing charges for felon in possession of a firearm, strangulation and harassment.
He had previously been released on bail before this latest arrest.
Court documents added “he violated multiple conditions of his release ultimately resulting in his alleged involvement in the death of the victim of his pending domestic violence cases.”
On Tuesday, KOIN 6 News spoke with the president of the Portland Police Association, who said this is frustrating.
“When someone engages in some kind of conduct, they’re alleged to have engaged in some kind of conduct, and the entire system is set up to say this person right now is too dangerous to be in this community, we have to have systems in place to ensure they stay outside of the community until we can process those things,” PPA President Aaron Schmautz said.
KOIN 6 News reached out to the district attorney’s office who said in part “our prosecutors aggressively pursued a high bail amount in this case. Mr. Adan’s intent to kill the victim was unambiguous. After the judge set Adan’s bail, the Portland Freedom Fund undermined our efforts and the efforts of the court to save the victim’s life by using their resources to bail him out. When a judge imposes bail, the defendant’s ability to pay is among the factors they consider. The action taken by the Portland Freedom Fund circumvented this, with tragic results.”
In a statement to KOIN 6 News, Portland Freedom Fund said “our thoughts are with the families and communities affected by this tragedy, particularly the children who have effectively lost both parents. It is a profound tragedy when any person is harmed. We know this personally, and we believe that people who have been harmed need and deserve access to community supports, trauma services, and healing.”
The organization added “Portland Freedom Fund seeks to limit the number of persons held pretrial solely for inability to pay the bail as determined by the court. Fulfilling requests for bail assistance are made on an individual basis with a focus on reducing harm. Factors that may influence decisions will vary over time and circumstances, for example, availability of funds and Covid outbreaks in jail.”
“Factors that may play a part in our decisions include but are not limited to ability to afford bail amount, health factors, pregnancy, impending loss of job, housing or shelter bed, drug/alcohol treatment opportunity, community support, race, gender status, separation of families. We have provided assistance to hundreds of people, mainly in the Portland Metro area, over the last four years following these guidelines,” Portland Freedom Fund said. “A partial list of those with roles in the release or continued incarceration of someone with charges awaiting trial includes police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, families with money or collateral, PFF and other mutual aid funds. Among these are those who play an active role in determining who will be eligible to get out on bail and for what dollar amount and/or what other limiting or supervisory conditions.”
“In Mr. Adan’s specific case, the court had deemed him 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,” Portland Freedom Fund said.
However, PPA says releasing people without bail funds often has no review process and impacts public safety.
“When people are released when they shouldn’t be released, they are dangerous to our community, and we saw, literally, a woman killed in Portland because her abuser was released when even the court and DA’s office said he shouldn’t be released. And that’s a tragedy,” Schmautz said.