In the early morning hours of September 29, 2020, the lives of Billy Lewnes, a 41-year-old Caucasian male, and his longtime girlfriend, Amber Coughtry, were brought to a violent and tragic end in Portland, Oregon. The couple was inside their vehicle in a parking lot near Force Lake in the Kenton neighborhood when they were ambushed in a hail of gunfire.
The attack was sudden and brutal, with bullets riddling the car from both sides, shattering the windows and striking both occupants multiple times.
Police responded to reports of a shooting around 5 a.m. and discovered the grim scene. Both Lewnes and Coughtry were pronounced dead at the location, with the Oregon State Medical Examiner later ruling their deaths as homicides caused by gunshot wounds. The sheer number of shots fired into the vehicle led Lewnes's mother, Chris Haworth, to believe that more than one person was likely involved in the attack. In the aftermath, she was left in a state of shock, struggling to comprehend how her only child could be taken so violently.
Despite the brutality of the double homicide, the case has grown cold, and no arrests have been made. Investigators have not publicly identified any suspects or a motive for the killings. Three days after the incident, the Portland Police Bureau announced that they did not believe there was an ongoing threat to the community, a statement that offered little solace to the grieving families. The investigation remains open, with law enforcement and family members appealing to the public for any information that could lead to an arrest. Crime Stoppers of Oregon has offered a cash reward for information that helps solve the case. In the years since, the spot where Lewnes and Coughtry were killed has been marked by a simple white cross, a small memorial to two lives cut short in an unsolved act of violence.
