Today, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office announced that Julius Lee Whitehurst, 19, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of Manslaughter, Assault, and Unlawful Use of a Weapon stemming from a July 2023 car crash that took the lives of two teenage passengers who had been in a vehicle driven by the defendant and a July 2023 shooting committed by the defendant.
On July 5, 2023, Julius Whitehurst was driving in Southeast Portland with a group of teens in his vehicle. None of the passengers in Whitehurst’s SUV were wearing seatbelts and Whitehurst’s license was suspended at the time. Shortly after 9:30pm, Whitehurst ran a red light and hit another vehicle in the intersection of SE 96th and Foster Rd. The collision caused the SUV to flip, ejecting several passengers from the vehicle. The driver of the other car, as well as injured occupants of Whitehurst’s vehicle were transported to the hospital for treatment. Onesty Jones, 15, and Kamareon Smith, 13, died from their injuries at the scene.
Whitehurst left the scene before law enforcement arrived. Medical records later showed that after the wreck, Whitehurst had sought treatment. At the hospital, his BAC was measured at 0.26 and his cannabis screen tested positive.
SDDA Kate Molina represented the state in this case. On November 18, 2024, Whitehurst plead guilty to two counts of Manslaughter in the First Degree, Assault in the Second Degree, DUI, as well as Unlawful Use of a Weapon with a Firearm for a separate incident. He was sentenced today, February 7, to 20 years in prison in front of Judge Andrew Lavin.
MCDA would like to thank all who contributed to the resolution of this case. We recognize the impact of this tragic incident on the families of the victims, many of whom were present for sentencing today and at previous hearings. Thank you to PPB, specifically to Traffic Investigations Officer Chase Fullington, and Victim Advocates Alex Bidwell and Karla Juarez for their dedicated work on this case.
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