PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — What began as an early morning disturbance call turned into a homicide investigation in Portland, with one woman dead and a man detained.
The call to the area of SE 92nd near Powell Boulevard came in around 7 a.m. Saturday, authorities said. When police arrived at the residence in the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood the woman had already died.
Though investigators have been tight-lipped about this incident, the homicide unit is now on the case.
One man, the leader of a close-knit community the woman was part of, was briefed by police and told KOIN 6 News this is a tragic case of domestic violence.
“It looks like domestic violence that became very tragic and that’s what we know right now,” said the man, who asked to not be identified. “The sad part is we have to care for the families, the kids that are left behind. Some of the girls are young enough that they don’t even know what happened to their mother.”
He spoke with KOIN 6 News after he unloaded diapers and food for the woman’s children. The entire community is shaken by this event, he said.
“She had a lot of young members and friends around here that were here. You’ve seen some of them out here to help me delivering food to the kids,” he said. “She’s well-loved and she really had a good heart.”
Though investigators have not said if her death was the result of domestic violence, the community leader told KOIN 6 News her death is a failure on everyone.
“It’s a very tragic incident that happened. It’s very sad, a young mother lost her life unnecessarily. And I feel like as a society, as a community, as anyone involved, we kind of failed,” he said. “Anytime something like that happens, we have to all accept the responsibility that somehow we failed collectively.”
Bringing items for the woman’s daughters was the very least he could do for the girls, he said. He hopes the community will give them the support they need.
“That is the hard part for us, to take it from there. Even when that tension and the media moves away, these kids still won’t have a mother who is going to walk them to graduations, walk on their wedding date. All the stuff that happens to young girls is not going to happen to them.”
A man was detained but police have not released any further details at this time. The name of the woman won’t be released until after the autopsy determines her exact cause of death and after her family has been notified.
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The investigation continues. If this is officially ruled a homicide, the current number of homicides in 2022 in Portland would stand at 59.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Detective Rico Beniga at (503)823-0457 or at Rico.beniga@police.portlandoregon.gov or Detective Erik Kammerer at Erik.Kammerer@police.portlandoregon.gov.