Although this tragic death could have been accidental, the victim’s boyfriend remains in jail on a Felony charge …
Police cars fill SE Division Street near 170th Avenue responding to calls that a woman had been shot – and the male shooter still had the gun with him in the apartment.
By David F. Ashton
The “Welfare Check/Priority” call to which Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers were dispatched on August 10 at 6:33 p.m. – in a residence near SE 170th Avenue and Division Street – turned out to be anything but routine.
As part of the dispatch officers learned that a man had called the 9-1-1 Center reporting that a female had died in the home.
The PPB’s Mobile Command Unit parks on the street as the standoff takes place.
“When they arrived, officers determined the male was probably armed, and barricaded inside the residence,” PPB Public Information Manager Mike Benner told reporters at the time.
Concerned that an individual was dead or injured inside the residence with an armed subject, PPB’s Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT) and Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) responded to assist with the call. “A short time later, SERT breached the front door, and located a female who was removed from the home and pronounced deceased,” Benner related.
More and more officers were called to the area; soon SE Division Street was closed to traffic as PPB apparatus and the PPB’s new Mobile Command Unit arrived and parked nearby.
After the sun sets, PPB Public Information Manager Mike Benner talks with reporters.
As night fell, the man remained barricaded inside the home, refusing to comply with police commands. “Shortly before 9 p.m., he exited the residence and was taken into custody,” Benner stated. “He was then transported to an area hospital for medical care. A firearm was recovered.”
After he was released from the hospital, the suspect, 20-year-old Leonel Macias, was booked int the Multnomah County Detention Center early the following morning, August 11 at 3:51 a.m. – on charges of Murder in the Second Degree and Unlawful Use of a Weapon.
More officers, and their patrol cars, pull into the area.
According to court papers, about the same time that Macias called 911, his mother also called 911 and said that her son’s girlfriend had accidentally shot herself and that her son had shot himself. He reportedly had told his mother that he was unaware that a bullet had been in the gun’s chamber, and that her son expressed suicidal thoughts.
PPB investigators located a spent .45 caliber bullet casing on the floor, and a bullet was lodged in a baseboard heater behind the couch, confirming the trajectory of the shot.
According to the court documents, the autopsy of the victim found a gunshot wound near the front center of her neck, with the bullet exiting through her upper back. The autopsy indicated that the muzzle of the gun was in contact with her skin when fired, and the bullet had severed her left carotid artery, leading to her death.
This, being taken into account, according to MCDC records, those Murder in the Second Degree and Unlawful Use of a Weapon charges had been dismissed, and replaced with a single count of Manslaughter in the First Degree. Currently, Macias is being held in Inverness Jail, without bail.
It appears that shooting victim, Kimberly Venegas-Gonzalez, may have been handling a gun that was loaded with a live bullet. Family-provided image
On August 13, Portland Police officials revealed that the victim had been identified as 21-year-old Kimberly Venegas-Gonzalez.
This incident is still under investigation.
If you have information about this, and have not spoken with police, contact Detective Samantha Cater at Samantha.Cater@police.portlandoregon.gov or Detective Brent Christensen at Brent.Christensen@police.portlandoregon.gov and please refer to Case No. 25-216281.
Images courtesy of KGW-TV News 8 and KPTV Fox 12 Oregon News
© 2025 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
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