December 20, 2023
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt today announced that a Multnomah County jury delivered a guilty verdict for Marshawn Edwards, 27, for the 2021 shooting death of Jacob Eli Knight Vasquez, 34, at a Northwest Portland restaurant. The jury also found Edwards guilty of weapons and attempted murder charges for three separate incidents following the murder.
Incidents
On September 24, 2021 at 1:56 a.m., Portland Police Bureau officers were dispatched to a report of a shooting in the 500 block of Northwest 21st Avenue. When they arrived they learned three adult males had been shot. One victim, Jacob Knight Vasquez, died at the scene, and two injured victims were contacted by police at the hospital. The shooting was captured on video, but the shooter was wearing a full-face ski mask and fled the scene before police arrived. Homicide investigators later identified the suspect as Marshawn Edwards.
On February 26, 2022, a shooting occurred outside a bar in Southeast Portland. Through the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN), detectives matched the 9mm casings outside the bar to the 9mm casings from the restaurant shooting in September 2021. Additionally, video surveillance showed Edwards inside the bar wearing an identical jacket from the September incident, and that Edwards exited the bar and fired a weapon at a fully automatic rate.
On March 15, 2022, Edwards and an unidentified accomplice robbed a man at gunpoint as the man walked with his roommate on SW 6th Avenue in downtown Portland. Edwards and the accomplice stole $300 from the man and fled. The roommate followed Edwards and his accomplice, and video surveillance showed Edwards draw and point a gun at the roommate. Two shots were fired and no one was injured. Responding officers located two 9mm casings that matched the casings from both the February 2022 and September 2021 incidents.
On March 28, 2022, detectives arrested Edwards and, pursuant to a warrant, searched the residence where he was arrested. Police located an unserialized 9mm “ghost gun” that was modified to fire at a fully automatic rate, a 50-round drum magazine, and loose rounds that matched casings from the September 2021 incident. Further analysis by the Oregon State Police crime lab confirmed that the “ghost gun” was the gun that fired all of the 9mm casings that had previously been identified as matches by NIBIN.
Trial & Verdict
The trial took place in front of Judge Jenna Plank from December 4-19, 2023, with Deputy District Attorney Sean Hughey and Senior Deputy District Attorney Mariel Mota as prosecutors. The 12-person jury delivered the verdict yesterday, finding Edwards guilty of:
- One count of Murder in the Second Degree with a Firearm (9/24/21)
- Two counts of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree with a Firearm (9/24/21)
- Two counts of Assault in the Second Degree with a Firearm (9/24/21)
- One count of Unlawful Use of a Weapon with a Firearm (9/24/21)
- One count of Unlawful Use of a Weapon with a Machine Gun (2/26/22)
- One count of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree with a Firearm (3/15/22)
- Two counts of Robbery in the First Degree with a Firearm (3/15/22)
- One count of Unlawful Use of a Weapon with a Firearm (3/15/22)
- One count of Unlawful Possession of a Machine Gun (3/28/2022)
Sentencing is scheduled for March 8 at 1:30 p.m. in front of Judge Plank.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office thanks the Portland Police Bureau for their assistance with this case.
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