Multnomah County Judge Heidi Moawad accepted a guilty plea this morning from Jacob Fitzgerald, 24 years old and sentenced him to 34 years in prison.
He pled guilty to multiple crimes, resolving three separate cases in Multnomah County and one in Washington County.
Fitzgerald pled guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree, Attempted Murder in the First Degree, Assault in the First Degree, Burglary in the First Degree with a Firearm, Robbery in the First Degree and Assault in the Second Degree.
The Facts:
In the early morning of August 6th, 2022, Jacob Fitzgerald intentionally shot at Otis Abner multiple times, hit him once and killed him.
Just before the shooting, Fitzgerald was driving in a car near Delta Park with his girlfriend at the time, and Otis Abner.
Police later learned that the two men were arguing, that the argument reached a
boiling point and Fitzgerald told Abner to get out of the car near 1130 N Schmeer Road.
A witness said Fitzgerald drove a short distance away from Abner, then shot at him multiple times from across the street. Abner was struck one time and died at the scene. Later that day Fitzgerald burned the vehicle associated with the homicide.
Police were alerted to Abner’s death after two civilian witnesses found his body and called 911. Once on scene, law enforcement collected seven shell casings and surveillance footage from nearby businesses, including a Motel 6 and Interstate Rentals.
Eighteen months later, on February 11th, 2024, Fitzgerald went to the trailer where his past girlfriend, the only witness to the shooting death of Abner, was living with her new boyfriend. Once there, Fitzgerald fired several shots into the trailer, one of which hit the girlfriend in the face and the arm, injuring her.
Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Andrew MacMillan prosecuted the case.
“He’s a dangerous man who left a trail of destruction over the last few years. This is an unusually high sentence for a plea agreement but is just given the circumstances,” he said.
Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Devin Franklin assisted in the prosecution.
The District Attorney’s Office would also like to thank Washington County Deputy District Attorney Bryce Bissinger for his work on these cases, along with Portland Police Detective William Winters who led the investigation and Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office Victim Advocate Nang Dunn for her kindness and compassion in helping the victims.