In the late afternoon of November 21, 2021, a distressing 911 call was made from an apartment in Southeast Portland, Oregon. On the line was 29-year-old Hispanic female, Mariela Gonzalez Rocha, who desperately reported that her ex-boyfriend was holding her hostage. The dispatcher could hear her crying and pleading, "Please, please don't.". A man then took the phone, giving the name "Jason," and tried to mislead the dispatcher by claiming the woman was on drugs and that there were no weapons
present.. Moments before the call abruptly ended, Mariela managed to scream the name of her captor: Davonte Donahue.. Just seven minutes later, a neighbor placed another 911 call, reporting the sounds of a woman's screams followed by gunshots..
When police officers arrived at the D Street Salal Apartments, they were met with gunfire from inside Mariela's unit as they knocked on the door.. This initiated a prolonged standoff that would last for hours into the early morning of November 22.. Officers evacuated the surrounding apartments and attempted to negotiate with the suspect, who intermittently fired more shots from within the residence.. The Portland Police Bureau's Special Emergency Response Team was called to the scene.. After unsuccessful attempts to make contact, law enforcement deployed a chemical agent into the apartment, which was met with more gunfire from the suspect..
Ultimately, police used a robot to enter the apartment, where they found Davonte Donahue crawling on the floor.. He then barricaded himself in another room before SERT members were finally able to breach it and take him into custody around 1:12 a.m.. Inside the apartment, officers discovered Mariela Gonzalez Rocha lying face down on the floor; she had died from a gunshot wound.. At the time of the incident, Donahue was already a wanted fugitive.. He had escaped from a federal reentry center in August 2021, where he was completing a sentence for a 2016 conviction for sex trafficking of a minor..
Davonte Donahue was arrested and charged with several crimes, including murder and attempted murder.. He eventually pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter constituting domestic violence and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.. Mariela Gonzalez Rocha, who was described by her family as adventurous and a loving mother to her young son, was remembered by her grieving family, which included her parents, two sisters, and her son..
