PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A 22-year-old man, who is already in custody on allegations that he killed a man in Gresham, is now accused of the aggravated murder of Ervaeua Herring.
A grand jury on Friday indicted Demetruis Ray Brown with two counts of aggravated murder, one count of murder, two counts of first-degree burglary and one count of unlawful use of a weapon for the August 17, 2014 shooting of Herring. He appeared in court on Monday and was arraigned on the new indictment.
Brown is one of four suspects who had previously been indicted by a grand jury in connection with the death of Herring.
At the time of her death, Herring was pregnant, according to the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office.
Detectives have also identified Geontae Jones, Kelani Brown and DeAnthony Simmons as individuals who went to Herring’s apartment complex in the 15100 block of Southeast Portland and unleashed a barrage of bullets into her apartment’s sliding back door.
Jones, Brown and Simmons are all charged with three counts of murder, first-degree burglary and unlawful use of a weapon. Jones and Simmons also face charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Officials believe that at least six different guns were used during the shooting that killed Herring.
All of the suspects who have been indicted are members of the Hoover criminal gang, according to police.
Detectives do not believe that Herring was the intended target of the shooting.
The group of men broke into the wrong apartment where the held a woman and asked her where Herring’s boyfriend was. When they realized their mistake, they took the woman’s phone and then went to Herring’s apartment where the shooting occurred from the outside.
Detectives have been able to determine that the shooting at Herring’s apartment served as retaliation after a fight between Woodlawn Park Blood gang and the Hoover criminal gang broke out downtown hours earlier.
Brown has been in custody since September 2014. Detectives in Gresham have been able to link him to the shooting death of Andreas Prince Jones. That shooting happened on June 9, 2013 in Gresham at the Rockwood Station Apartments.
Anyone with information on the case, including second hand information or information learned from social media sites, is asked to contact Detective Anthony Merrill at 503-823-4033, anthony.merrill@portlandoregon.gov.