On a cold December night in Portland, Oregon, the life of a young man who had sought refuge in America was tragically cut short. Dhulfiqar Kareem Mseer, a 23-year-old male of Iraqi descent, was working as a ride-share driver in the early hours of December 12, 2020. He had recently married during a trip back to Iraq and was working diligently to bring his new wife to the United States, building a future that was full of promise.
Just after midnight, in the Woodlawn neighborhood, Mseer was
preparing to pick up a passenger near Northeast Stafford Street and Northeast 11th Avenue. In a sudden and brutal turn of events, a hail of gunfire erupted, with detectives later determining that more than 60 rounds were fired at his vehicle. Mseer was struck and gravely wounded. Paramedics rushed him to a nearby hospital, but his injuries were too severe, and he succumbed to them. The Oregon State Medical Examiner later confirmed that he died from a gunshot wound and ruled his death a homicide. Investigators believed Mseer was not the intended victim but was tragically mistaken for a rival gang member in what they described as an ambush.
For more than three years, the case remained a painful open wound for his family and the community. The investigation was complex, involving local and federal law enforcement agencies who pieced together evidence. A significant breakthrough came in March 2024 when authorities announced the arrests of four suspects. The diligent work of the Portland Police Homicide Unit, the FBI, and the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office led to the identification and apprehension of Anthony Devion Bagsby, Taezhon Tyreik Kelly, Delane William Roy, and Cocoa Dalonta Taplin.
The four men, alleged to be members of the Hoover Criminal Gang, were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges including murder in aid of racketeering. The arrests were a coordinated effort across state lines, with Kelly apprehended in Texas, Roy in Louisiana, and Bagsby and Taplin taken into custody in Portland. The indictment alleges that the men intentionally killed Mseer to maintain or increase their standing within the criminal organization, bringing a measure of closure to a case that had long haunted the city.
