Man convicted in train killings sentenced to life in prison

June 24, 2020



PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A judge has sentenced Jeremy Christian to spend the rest of his life in prison for fatally stabbing two people during his racist rant on a light-rail train in Portland, Oregon.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Cheryl Albrecht sentenced Christian to two life sentences after listening to statements from Christian’s victims or victims’ relatives Tuesday and Wednesday, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Taliesin Namkai-Meche, 23, and Ricky Best, 53, died from knife wounds to the neck, and Micah Fletcher survived after Christian also stabbed him in the neck on May 26, 2017.

Christian boarded the train during the evening commute and began shouting racist, anti-Muslim and xenophobic slurs at the two young Black women, prosecutors said. One was an immigrant from Somalia and wore a Muslim headscarf. Some witnesses said Christian in his outburst made a slicing motion across his neck and mentioned decapitating people.

As his tirade continued, Christian grabbed Namkai-Meche’s cellphone as he tried to film and threw it to the ground. Authorities say Fletcher stood up to intervene and got into a shoving match with Christian, who was taunting the men to “do something” to stop him.

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