Three dead in Brentwood-Darlington murder-suicide

INCLUDES INVESTIGATION VIDEO | Just why this horrific crime occurred remains unknown. But, here’s what’s known about what took place on Saturday …

Portland Police Homicide Unit detectives, crime scene investigators, and officers investigate three shooting deaths in one house in the Brentwood-Darlington neighborhood.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

On Saturday, September 6, three Brentwood-Darlington residents died in an apparent murder-suicide, in a home at 7324 SE 64th Avenue, a half-block north of Flavel Drive.

Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers found “a male and two females deceased from apparent gunshot wounds”.

Watch as police personnel investigate this tragic crime:

Soon, dozens of officers, and PPB Homicide Unit detectives had arrived, filling the narrow residential street with their vehicles, including the massive Mobile Command Unit parked in front of the house

Officers maintain the crime scene, as the homicide investigation is underway.

Neighbors express dismay
“This is about three blocks from my home; a bunch of us walk our dogs down the street almost every day,” Karen Montez told East Portland News. “One of my neighbors said she’d walked past the house about 4:45 p.m. and all seemed normal, until the police arrived about fifteen minutes later.”

While it’s clearly hearsay at this point, neighbors told neighbors that gunshots were heard “mid-day” on Saturday. “I haven’t learned how or why this crime was discovered, or who called police to report it,” Montez said.

“One of the things that’s troubling is that I remember how run-down the house used to look; then, over time, we saw all the improvements and fresh paint,” Montez recalled. “Neighbors spoke highly of the family.

“To find out that things like this are happening so close to home, well, it’s troubling,” voiced Montez. “I won’t be going down that street, at least for the time being.”

A PPB Homicide Unit detective walks back to the house where the crimes took place.

In the middle of the street are the PPB’s Forensic Unit van, and behind that, their Mobile Command Unit.

It was a murder-suicide, police say
On September 8, the PPB Homicide Unit detectives revealed that their investigation had indicated that “a 22-year-old male took the lives of his 48-year-old mother and 10-year-old sister, before taking his own life”.

At the house, a sizable memorial to the slain girl and mother lines the fence.

Then, on September 11, the PPB revealed the names of the deceased – the mother, Maria Florencia Rubio, who, according to Multnomah County records, purchased the residence in March, 2022. Also slain was her daughter, Liliana Morgan.

And, the family member identified as the shooter was the homeowner’s son, and the girl’s brother, Miguel Morgan, who had apparently taken his own life.

If you have information about this case, and haven’t yet talked with police, contact Detective William Winters at William.Winters@police.portlandoregon.gov or Detective J.D. McGuire at Jeff.McGuire@police.portlandoregon.gov, and refer to Case No. 25-245107.

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