Teens Identified In Case Of 65-Year-Old North Portland Man's Murder

By Conrad Wilson (OPB)
Portland, Ore. Oct. 25, 2019 9:49 p.m.

The Multnomah County district attorney's office Friday identified two of the teens charged with murdering a 65-year-old man in North Portland earlier this month.

They also announced new charges in the case.

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The teens are Aaron Criswell and Richard Jerome Rand, both 15 years old.

The teens were identified because they're being charged as adults under Measure 11, the district attorney's office said in a statement.

A third teen, who is 14 years old, has been charged with murder, but was not identified because the teen does not meet the age requirement to be charged under Measure 11. That teen is being held at the Multnomah County Juvenile Detention Center.

Police said the teens shot and killed Ricky Malone Sr. using a shotgun on the morning of Oct. 14.

Criswell and Rand have been charged with one count of first-degree murder with a firearm, two counts of second-degree murder with a firearm, one count of first-degree robbery, one count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle with a firearm, and one count of first-degree burglary with a firearm. All are felony charges.

Police said Malone was collecting bottles and cans along Mohawk Avenue in North Portland when he was shot with a "single shotgun blast to his left chest." The district attorney's office said collecting recyclables was something Malone enjoyed doing and that he was planning to meet family members at a can and bottle redemption center later that day.

Minutes before the shooting, police said, the three teen suspects were allegedly involved in a home invasion.

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"The resident of the home told law enforcement that three masked individuals, one of whom wore a 'clown-style mask,' entered his residence," the district attorney's office said, citing court documents that weren't immediately available. "One of the masked individuals [was] armed with a shotgun."

The teens ran off when the resident of the home yelled at them.

The same morning of the attempted break-in and Malone's murder, police received several calls from people reporting their vehicles has been crashed into by a fleeing driver.

One witness got a license plate, which police traced back to a vehicle belonging to Malone. It was found 2 miles from where he was shot, with "a significant amount of blood on the driver's side," the district attorney said.

Police found a fast food receipt in the car. Detectives then obtained surveillance video from the restaurant's drive-thru.

The driver was later identified as a 14-year-old in a "distinctive shirt that was later recovered from his parent's home" during a search, the district attorney's office said.

Police searched the teens' homes on Oct. 24 and found things that belonged to Malone, court documents state.

The district attorney said they believe the teens met at the 14-year-old's house Oct. 14 to break into someone's house.

"When the group left to commit the home invasion, Criswell was armed with a shotgun and Rand wore a clown-style mask," the district attorney's office said. "When the three were confronted by the resident, they ran away. While fleeing, they came across Mr. Malone."

Police believe the teens wanted Malone's car, but when he refused, the teens shot him.

A shotgun was recovered Oct. 14 after a homeowner found it in bushes along Allegheny Avenue, not far from where Malone was shot, the district attorney's office said.

Law enforcement said it does not plan to release more information in the case at this time.

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