Portland assault victim dies weeks later; suspect Roberto Velasquez charged with murder

Rebecca Lange, 44, died on June 3 after being beaten in Old Town Portland on May 22. Suspect Roberto Velasquez, 64, now faces second-degree murder charges.

Portland woman dies weeks after Old Town assault; murder charge filed against suspect

Rebecca A. Lange, 44, died on June 3 at a Portland hospital from injuries sustained during an assault on May 22, according to katu.com. The Multnomah County medical examiner ruled her death a homicide by blunt force trauma.

On June 5, the Multnomah County District Attorney's office presented the case to a grand jury, which returned an updated indictment against suspect Roberto M. Velasquez, 64. He now faces charges of murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, and unlawful use of a weapon — all classified as domestic violence offences.

The assault on Northwest Naito Parkway

At approximately 6:07 p.m. on Friday, May 22, Portland Police Bureau officers responded to a report of an injured woman on the sidewalk in the 700 block of Northwest Naito Parkway in the Old Town neighbourhood. Officers were not immediately available to respond, and Portland Fire & Rescue along with AMR emergency medical services arrived first to begin treating Lange.

Tristin Anderson and his fiancée Alexandria Declet, who live nearby, said a stranger approached them asking to use their phone to explain the assault. The two then spotted Lange and called 911.

"Dispatch told me not to touch or anything, and then that's when we had two of our security guards come around the corner, and they tried to help the best they could too," Anderson said. "And then we stuck around until the ambulance got here."

"Me and the security guards tried our best to help the lady that was on the ground, but she was, you know, bleeding out the side of her head and everything, so we couldn't really do much," he added.

Declet described the scene as particularly disturbing. "We were just trying to keep her calm and focused on not moving," she said. She also noted that Lange appeared to have a serious injury to one of her fingers: "It looked like it was either, like, broken off or like slightly sliced off — it was pretty bad."

According to dispatch audio, first responders were warned that the suspect had already left the scene. Dispatch logs show that two officers and a sergeant cleared from prior calls at 6:11 p.m. and arrived at the scene at 6:16 p.m.

An initial investigation indicated that Lange had been struck with a "blunt instrument." Police declined to specify the weapon used. She was transported to hospital by ambulance with what PPB described at the time as "critical, life-threatening injuries."

Hours-long standoff before surrender

Police established that Velasquez had gone into a nearby apartment after the assault. PPB Sergeant Kevin Allen said it was believed he had some association with the residence.

"It wasn't like he broke into a random apartment," Allen said.

Officers surrounded the building and secured the scene while detectives applied for a search warrant. The Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT) and the Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) were deployed. Northwest Naito Parkway was closed to allow the scene to be documented and evidence collected. Detectives from both the Major Crimes Unit and the Homicide Unit responded given the severity of the case.

Velasquez surrendered to SERT officers at 11:29 p.m. He was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center at 2:42 a.m. on initial charges of attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, and unlawful use of a weapon.

Allen said the response required resources from across the city and beyond. "This was not only our tactical teams, the SERT and CNT, but it was also multiple detective units that had to come out for this. We had help from all precincts; North Precinct sent resources, we even had a drone unit from Gresham Police come out to help us with this just because of how thinly stretched our resources were for this."

Allen had also commented at the time of the arrest: "We're very grateful that the situation worked out in terms of getting the suspect into custody and stabilising the incident, but our hearts go out to the victim who's still in the hospital."

Investigation ongoing; tips requested

The investigation into the assault and subsequent death continues. Police are asking anyone who witnessed the events before or during the assault, or who holds video footage or other evidence and has not yet spoken to investigators, to submit a tip. The case number is 26-148225.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)