In the early morning hours of May 12, 2014, the life of a Hispanic/Latino male named Lazaro Lizandro Fuentes-Burgos, aged 16, was tragically cut short in Portland, Oregon. The teenager was discovered deceased inside a parked vehicle at the intersection of Northeast 59th Avenue and Simpson Street in the Cully neighborhood. Responding to a call that came in at 3:04 a.m., North Precinct officers and medical personnel found Fuentes-Burgos in the driver's seat of a red 1994 Nissan Sentra.
An
autopsy conducted by the Oregon State Medical Examiner later confirmed that the young man had died from multiple fatal gunshot wounds. The preliminary investigation suggested that Fuentes-Burgos was shot while he was seated in his car. Some neighbors in the area recalled hearing what might have been gunshots at approximately 1:40 a.m. but did not immediately contact the authorities. This delay meant that police were not notified of the shooting until more than an hour after it likely occurred, when a neighbor found the body.
In the aftermath of the discovery, investigators struggled to find leads. To date, no arrests have been made in connection with the homicide, and authorities have not released any information about potential suspects. The motive for the shooting remains a mystery, as police have stated that Fuentes-Burgos had no known connections to gangs or drug-related activities. The case has grown cold, leaving family and community members without answers. Law enforcement has periodically asked for the public's help, with Crime Stoppers offering a cash reward for information that could lead to an arrest, but the killer or killers of Lazaro Lizandro Fuentes-Burgos remain at large.
