Three men have been sentenced in the death of a Vancouver teenager who was fatally shot during a robbery in April 2017 in a Portland park.
Multnomah County, Ore., District Attorney Rod Underhill announced Friday that all three defendants had pleaded guilty in the slaying of 17-year-old Shawn Scott Jr.
Miguel Thompson, 20, pleaded guilty Nov. 30 in Multnomah County Circuit Court to second-degree manslaughter and first-degree robbery. He was sentenced Friday to 13 years and nine months in prison.
Co-defendant, Malique Kinnerly-Hicks, 18, of North Portland pleaded guilty Oct. 31 to first-degree robbery and second-degree manslaughter. He received a 7 1/2 -year prison sentence for the robbery conviction that he’ll serve at the Oregon Youth Authority. Court records show Kinnerly-Hicks has not yet been sentenced on the manslaughter conviction; that hearing is set for Jan. 22.
A third co-defendant, Kole Tabian Jones, 20, of Gresham, Ore., pleaded guilty Nov. 21 to first-degree manslaughter and attempted first-degree robbery with a firearm. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison.
“That kid who meant nothing to you meant everything to his little brother and sister, his mother, his family and friends. We all loved him and needed him. I cannot express the agony I felt that day when the police showed up to my door to tell me that you killed my son. I can never put into words the torment that I feel everyday knowing that my son is gone and he is never coming home,” Scott’s mother, Natasha Hunter, said in a statement read by the district attorney’s office during Thompson’s sentencing.
Scott, who was a junior at Union High School, was fatally shot April 11, 2017, in Portland’s Holladay Park, near Lloyd Center, while being robbed at gunpoint for his belt, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Kinnerly-Hicks’ case.
Detectives with the Portland Police Bureau watched surveillance video from the day of the shooting obtained from a nearby business. The footage shows a group of people approach Scott in the park. Scott and Thompson are seen speaking during what investigators determined was a sale involving alcohol, according to a press release from the district attorney’s office.
After the transaction, the three defendants start to walk away but immediately return and surround Scott. Jones is seen pulling out a handgun and pointing the barrel in the middle of Scott’s back, the news release states. Another member of the group, identified as Kinnerly-Hicks, “puffed up” his body to intimidate Scott, court records say.
Jones then hits Scott over the head with the gun, causing a round to fire and strike Scott. All three defendants ran from the scene, the press release states.
Kinnerly-Hicks later told detectives they planned to rob Scott of his designer belt, according to court documents.
“Junior was an amazing kid. He was the most loyal person I have ever known. He was the most generous person, he would do anything he could for those he loved. He was an irreplaceable friend that was always a shoulder to lean on and a support to anyone who needed it. He would always encourage others and do anything that he could to bring a smile to their face. He was always joking and laughing and full of energy, full of life. He was irreplaceable,” Hunter’s statement read.
The case was prosecuted by Multnomah County Deputy District Attorneys Elisabeth Waner and Tara Gardner.
Jessica Prokop: 360-735-4551; jessica.prokop@columbian.com; twitter.com/JProkop16
