Who killed 17 year old Derreck Sherman in 1983? Derreck Sherman, a 17-year-old African-American male, was crossing the parking lot of the Knickerbocker Motel on the 4700 block of North Interstate Avenue in Portland, Oregon, just after 3:10 a.m. on September 3, 1983, when a single sharp report cut through the night. Walking with an associate, he crumpled to the ground, bleeding from a gunshot wound. He was rushed to Emanuel Hospital and died shortly thereafter.
Earlier that day he had played basketball, gone to a party, spent time downtown, and returned to the motel to sleep, a routine that gave no hint of the violence to come.
Detectives learned that an unidentified white male had been seen in the area shortly before the shooting: about 18 to 23 years old, 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 11 inches tall, sandy brown hair, a mustache, wearing an army fatigue jacket and blue jeans. Witnesses also reported a yellow 1979 Chevrolet Camaro speeding away from the scene, a flash of color and chrome disappearing into the dark while shock rippled through the motel lot. Sherman, who at the time was living in a foster home after what officials described as a trying life, left behind more questions than answers as officers canvassed the neighborhood for leads.
No arrests have ever been announced in the case, and authorities continue to classify the homicide as an unsolved cold case. His name appears in memorial listings of Oregonians lost to gun violence, a brief entry that underscores how the file remains open and waiting for the piece of information that could identify a suspect and close the distance between that night and justice.
