A judge Wednesday sentenced double murderer Jeremy Christian to spend the rest of his life in prison -- with no chance of ever getting out -- for the murders of two fellow passengers on a MAX train in May 2017.
Multnomah County Circuit Judge Cheryl Albrecht announced her sentence after listening to more than a dozen of Christian’s victims and victims’ relatives make statements Tuesday and Wednesday. That included statements from the families of Taliesin Namkai-Meche, 23, and Ricky Best, 53, who died from knife wounds to the neck, and Micah Fletcher, who survived after Christian also stabbed him in the neck.
Albrecht sentenced Christian to two consecutive life terms -- one for each first-degree murder.
The judge also sentenced Christian to more than 25 additional years for other crimes. Among them were the attempted first-degree murder of Fletcher; assault and hate crimes for striking a Black woman in the eye with a half-filled Gatorade bottle on May 25, 2017; and more hate crimes against two teenage girls, one who was wearing a hijab, when Christian launched on a racist, xenophobic rant on the crowded MAX train on May 26, 2017.
Victims and their relatives had urged the judge to never let Christian walk free in society again. Many described how their lives had been forever changed, and that they have suffered nightmares or sleepless nights and post traumatic stress disorder as they’ve sought help through years of therapy.
Fletcher, now 24, said Wednesday that he had always had trouble sleeping, but added that he now faces new difficulties since Christian nearly killed him.
“The difficulty of it was the sleep came with nightmares,” Fletcher said, including one where he’s in a tunnel that slowly fills with blood until he drowns.
Fletcher said these days, whenever he walks into a room with new people, he spends the first 30 seconds assessing who might kill him and if any bulges in their pockets might be hidden weapons.
“I have changed a lot from this,” Fletcher said.
Victims and their relatives also stressed the need for systemic change in a world that doesn’t want to own up to the circumstances that allowed Christian to act on his beliefs unfettered. Shawn Forde, a former Marine who had just stepped off the train when Christian pointed the knife at him, told the judge Wednesday that society must work much harder to stamp out racism.
“We make daily choices to dismiss and ignore those opportunities,” said Forde, who is Black. He said we must embrace the goal: “No more, and never again. ...No more denial. No more lack of ownership.”
Before the judge announced her sentence, Christian also was given an opportunity to make a statement via a live video feed from a remote room in the courthouse. He appeared emotional and teary eyed at times, but did not take responsibility for the stabbings. Rather, he blamed Fletcher, as he had in interviews with the police and during past court hearings.
“Where I was brought up in North Portland, we defend ourselves,” Christian said. “...I did not commit an act of violence on that train.”
He continued: “I do regret that two people died, but I do not regret my actions.”
Christian denied directing any hate speech at the two teenage girls, who were 16 and 17 at the time and were riding the train to Clackamas Town Center. One of them is African American and the other is an immigrant from Somalia, the one who was wearing the hijab. Witnesses said Christian unleashed a vile torrent about Muslims, Christians and Jews dying, spoke of beheadings and shouted, “Go home, we need American here!” Christian said he was exercising his right to free speech, and trying to get a reaction from the crowd.
According to evidence presented at trial, Namkai-Meche had approached Christian with his phone, apparently in an attempt to record Christian’s tirade. After Christian swatted Namkai-Meche’s phone onto the train’s floor and shoved Fletcher and Namkai-Meche, Fletcher responded by shoving Christian a few times and telling him to get off the train. That’s when Christian stabbed both of them and Best, who was standing nearby.
Wednesday, Christian said Best had done nothing but stand near him when he stabbed him.
“I just assessed he was a threat,” Christian said. “...He ended up collateral damage.”
Christian described his trial as “a farce” and the jury’s verdict as “laughable.” He said he unfairly has been labeled a racist.
Christian was not allowed in the courtroom because on Tuesday, he’d threatened the first victim to make a statement by screaming that he wished he’d killed her. Deputies had immediately removed him from the room. Christian, however, was allowed to watch the sentencing hearing from another room in the courthouse after victims said they wanted Christian to hear their statements.
Although Christian’s lawyers argued that the longest sentence Christian could receive was life in prison with a 30-year minimum, the judge said she agreed with prosecutors Jeff Howes and Don Rees: She could sentence Christian to “true life,” which is life in prison without the chance of ever getting out.
Because defense attorneys Greg Scholl and Dean Smith believe a true life sentence is unconstitutional under the language in Oregon’s 2019 first-degree murder law, they are expected to appeal Christian’s sentence.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Oregon and the FBI had investigated the possibility of prosecuting Christian for federal crimes. But the office’s spokesman Kevin Sonoff said Wednesday that federal prosecutors don’t plan to pursue any charges given Christian’s lengthy sentence Wednesday, unless his convictions or sentence are overturned on appeal.
Now that Christian has been sentenced, two lawsuits filed last year by the families of Namkai-Meche and Best can proceed through the civil court system. The suits seek $20 million from TriMet and the city of Portland for not arresting and banning Christian from the transit system when two TriMet supervisors and a police officer responded to a report from Demetria Hester.
She told them Christian threatened her life and threw the Gatorade bottle at her eye, but an officer didn’t take Christian into custody. Less than 18 hours later, Christian killed Namkai-Meche and Best.
In a statement after Wednesday’s sentencing, Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill said Christian’s convictions will do little to ease victims’ pain, but it does show hateful people in the world that there are consequences for their actions.
“From the beginning of this case, we have seen and heard the racism and hatred cast by Jeremy Christian,” Underhill wrote. “His appalling actions and beliefs will never have a place in our community. Today, we focus on and remember the heroic efforts of the individuals who courageously came forward and immediately – in the face of great danger to themselves – started performing first aid and gave solace to Taliesin Namkai-Meche, Ricky Best and Micah Fletcher.”
“We honor the first responders – the police officers, firefighters and paramedics – who found themselves in a chaotic and traumatizing-blood-soaked scene,” Underhill continued. “Although we still deeply hurt, we are stronger in our resolve to stand up to and reject hate. We do so inspired by the courage, compassion and strength of Taliesin Namkai-Meche, Ricky Best, Micah Fletcher, Walio Mohamed, Destinee Mangum, Demetria Hester, Shawn Forde and so many others, including the families of Taliesin and Ricky.”
-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee
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