‘Q Black’ gets almost 24 years for carjacking turned killing amid Portland prostitution scheme

A Portland man who set up an “easy lick” to steal another man’s car — but ended up killing him when the carjacking went wrong — has been sentenced to nearly 24 years in state prison.

The deadly shooting four years ago was the first in a spree of shootings linked to Quentin Blackmon, known on the streets as “Q Black.”

Blackmon had been released pending trial on four car theft cases when he fatally shot Thomas Hammond on a side street near Rocky Butte on Aug. 17, 2020.

A week later, Blackmon allegedly shot and wounded another man, Les McIntosh, leading to an attempted murder charge yet to go to trial.

Blackmon also is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Michael Epps on Oct. 1, 2020, at the Capt’n Jacks trailer park. Blackmon was arrested the next day. That case is set to be tried for a third time later this year following two mistrial declarations and a separate hung jury.

During a Friday hearing, Senior Deputy District Attorney J.R. Ujifusa cited a sealed pre-sentencing report describing Blackmon as recalcitrant and unwilling to follow the law.

“He continues to display a lack of self-control and total disinterest in changing his criminal tendencies,” Ujifusa said. “When others do not see his way he becomes violent.”

During an April trial, witnesses testified that Hammond, 66, had picked up a woman for sex and driven her to a quiet stretch of Northeast 90th Avenue when Blackmon emerged and demanded at gunpoint that Hammond give up his car.

The woman, who said she was Blackmon’s girlfriend, testified that Blackmon told her earlier that Hammond would be an “an easy trick or ‘lick,’” meaning he would be easy to rob, according to a memo filed by prosecutors.

Surveillance footage showed Hammond rush forward when Blackmon, now 34, fired the fatal shot. Blackmon sold the car for $100 a few hours later. A jury acquitted Blackmon of first-degree murder but found him guilty of first-degree manslaughter and robbery.

Defense attorney Sohaye Lee argued that homelessness and drug addiction put up barriers to Blackmon’s success but said he had received positive feedback in high school and at the Oregon Youth Authority.

Hammond’s sister and two sons, however, said Blackmon had used up his last second chance.

“He approached my father’s car with a loaded gun in his hand,” said son David Hammond. “It was not just a robbery; it was a senseless and cold-blooded murder.”

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Kelly Skye determined that Blackmon posed a persistent public safety risk and went beyond the standard punishment, sentencing Blackmon to 23 years and nine months in prison. The minimum punishment for first-degree manslaughter is 10 years.

The judge ruled Blackmon eligible for time off for good behavior during the last 10 years of his sentence.

—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083, zsparling@oregonian.com or @pdxzane.

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