On a Monday afternoon in Portland, Oregon, the life of a 31-year-old White / Caucasian man, Benjamin Taylor Johnson, was tragically cut short. On March 30, 2020, at approximately 3 p.m., Johnson was shot and killed in a parking lot located in the 3300 block of Southeast 82nd Avenue. When authorities arrived at the scene, they found Johnson, who was pronounced dead.
The subsequent investigation by the Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office determined that the cause of his death was a homicide resulting from a gunshot wound.
In the days following the shooting, friends and family gathered to hold a vigil for Johnson, mourning the loss of a man they loved. The investigation into his death progressed swiftly. On Thursday, April 2, 2020, the Portland Police Bureau announced an arrest in connection with the homicide. Twenty-two-year-old Joseph David Schneider was taken into custody and faced serious charges for his alleged involvement in the incident.
Schneider was charged with one count of Murder in the First Degree and one count of Robbery in the First Degree, suggesting a motive behind the fatal encounter. While the arrest brought a significant development in the case, the profound loss of Benjamin Johnson continued to be deeply felt by his community.
