On the night of May 13, 1996, Joseph "Peanut" Littlejohn, a 20-year-old African-American man, was with an associate in the basement of a house on the 3800 block of NE 17th Avenue in Portland, Oregon. At around 10:20 p.m., the relative quiet of the evening was broken by the sound of gunfire. Shots were fired through a window of the basement, fatally wounding Littlejohn.
He died at the scene, though his associate was not harmed in the incident.
Following the shooting, witnesses reported seeing two unidentified African-American men, believed to be in their late teens to mid-twenties, fleeing from the location. Law enforcement officials have indicated that Littlejohn was a known member of the Crips gang.
To date, no arrests have been made in the case, and the shooting of Joseph Littlejohn remains an unsolved homicide. The Portland Police Bureau's Cold Case Homicide Unit continues to seek information from the public and has offered a cash reward for tips that lead to an arrest in the case.
