A Portland man accused of fatally shooting two men at an east Vancouver apartment complex last month made a first appearance Thursday in Clark County Superior Court.
Arkangel D. Howard, 31, appeared on suspicion of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with the March 19 slayings of two Portland-area men: Allen J. Collins, 37, and Jason D. Benton, 42.
Howard was arrested March 31 by agents with the U.S. Marshals Service and Portland Police Bureau officers in the Portsmouth neighborhood of North Portland. He was booked into the Multnomah County Jail on a warrant and was later extradited to Clark County.
Several people called 911 shortly after 5 p.m. March 19 to report hearing gunshots near their homes. The reports included information that two men were dead and a man had fled the area in a silver Prius, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in support of Howard’s arrest warrant.
Vancouver police responded to an apartment complex in the 1400 block of Northeast 140th Avenue and found two dead men on the ground in the parking lot. The victims, later identified as Collins and Benton, suffered gunshot wounds to their heads, the affidavit states.
No firearms were found on the victims. However, officers said they found multiple spent handgun casings in the area.
One witness who heard the gunfire said he walked to his fence line and saw a woman standing in the complex’s parking lot. He heard her say, “Oh my God, what did you do?” He also saw a silver Prius with a roof rack driving away, court records said.
Another witness said that after hearing the gunshots, he saw a man standing next to the Prius, as well as a woman, and heard her say something similar to, “I can’t believe you just did that!” according to court documents.
A third witness said he saw a man holding what appeared to be a handgun in his right hand, and a woman standing near him. The witness said he feared something was going to happen so he quickly walked away and then heard multiple shots, the affidavit states.
The woman seen with the alleged shooter told detectives she lives at the complex and identified Howard as the shooter, who then drove away in her silver Prius. She said she’s known Howard for several months, and they had been hanging out together in Portland motels in the days leading up to the shooting, court records said.
Howard had spent the night at her apartment the night before, she said, and was going to help her move out the next day after her landlord asked her to leave. Howard went to go pick up a truck to transport her belongings, she said. However, he came back to the complex minutes prior to the shooting in the Prius, according to court documents.
The woman said she heard arguing and walked toward the parking lot, where she saw Howard having a verbal dispute with Collins and Benton. She then saw him aim a handgun at Benton and pull the trigger twice. She did not recall what happened next but thought she heard about five shots, the affidavit states. She told detectives that she had met the victims on a previous occasion at a Portland bar.
A Clark County sheriff’s deputy located the Prius on March 20 abandoned in the 2200 block of Northeast 164th Avenue, court records show.
During the court appearance, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Vu said Howard has a criminal history dating to 2004, including a felony conviction for attempted first-degree robbery.
He argued that Howard is a risk to the community and asked the judge to set his bail at $5 million.
Howard’s court-appointed attorney, Steve Rucker, said his client is presumed innocent and that a more appropriate bail should be set.
Judge Derek Vanderwood set Howard’s bail at $3 million. He will be arraigned April 27.
