It’s not clear why a man allegedly killed his children’s mom and his little boy; but you can learn more about this tragic situation in this story …
On the day of the investigation, Portland Police Bureau detectives kept everyone a block away from the scene, while they investigated what they believe is a murder/suicide.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
The day after police and family members entered a well-kept home on a dead-end segment of SE 123rd Avenue, a block north of SE Salmon Street, and found the bodies of a man, a woman, and a young child – neighbors had little to say about what police are calling a murder/suicide that took place there.
“Officers were at the residence twice during the evening of November 4th, and took a missing report from a family member of the deceased woman,” Portland Police Bureau spokesperson Detective Mary Wheat told us. “Officers did not have adequate information at that time that would have allowed them to force entry into the residence.”
On November 5, at 10:00 a.m., Wheat said Portland Police Officers again responded to the residence on a call of a shooting and possible murder/suicide.
“Homicide Detectives were called to the scene to investigate and were at the location throughout the day and into the evening hours,” Wheat said. “At this time, detectives believe that the man shot the woman and the boy and then shot himself. A handgun was recovered at the scene and detectives believe it was the weapon used in this incident.”
The day following the homicide investigation, nothing now seems amiss at this Mill Park home, where police say they found three deceased individuals.
Next-door neighbor Lynn Metz was just returning from a medical procedure at a hospital, when she and her driver found her street barricaded. Metz lifted her pant leg, showing the stitches and bandages there, making it impossible for her to walk any distance. Detectives refused her request to return to her home, next door to the crime scene.
“They were quiet, and seemed like nice people,” Metz said about her deceased neighbors. “Really, this isn’t something you want to talk about.”
Family becomes suspicious of foul play
An individual who said he was close to the family, but wished not to be identified, said at the scene that the man and woman had been together for “quite a while” and had two children, but weren’t married.
The individual asserted that the woman left the home about October 31 – and added the understanding that the man asked the woman to return, feigning illness. It was then that she and the child were killed, and the man took his own life, according to this account.
Police suspect this man – shown in a 2006 photograph provided by the Portland Police Bureau – 29-year-old Ceantwan Lorenzo Barr shot a woman and her child earlier this week, and then turned the gun on himself.
The Medical Examiner’s Office completed the three autopsies by the following morning, and on November 6 identified the deceased as 29-year-old Ceantwan Lorenzo Barr, 28-year-old Tameka Yvonne Medina, and four-year-old Ashawn Medina-Barr, according to Detective Wheat.
“An 11-year-old daughter was not present and was unharmed, and is safe with family,” Wheat added. “This investigation is continuing.”
© 2009 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News
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