PORTLAND, ORE. (AP) — Jeremy Christian, convicted of a double murder on a Portland light-rail train, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without possibility of parole.
The sentencing by Multnomah County Circuit Judge Cheryl Albrecht occurred a day after Christian jumped to his feet in court and told a survivor he regretted not killing her.
Christian, 38, was found guilty in February on 12 counts, including the stabbing murders of train passengers Ricky John Best, 53, and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, on May 26, 2017. A third stabbing victim survived.
His victims had attempted to intervene when he began shouting racist and anti-Muslim slurs as he sat near two teenage black girls, one of whom was wearing a hijab.
The minimum sentence would have allowed the possibility of parole after 30 years. The death penalty is legal in Oregon, but a moratorium was imposed in 2011 by Gov. John Kitzhaber and has been continued by his successor, Kate Brown.
In removing the possibility of parole, the judge cited Christian’s lack of remorse.
Before the sentencing, Christian stated to the court that he accepted no guilt for the killings. “I do regret that two people died, but I do not regret my actions that led to their death,” he said.
Christian’s outburst Tuesday came during a statement by Demetria Hester, who suffered a serious eye injury when he struck her with a bottle the day before his deadly rampage.
Hester, a Black woman, described him as a white supremacist and a plague on society, then said, “When you die and go to hell, I hope you rot.”
Christian responded: “See you there.” Then he jumped up, pulled off his face mask and yelled, “I should have killed you!” — adding a misogynist slur.
Albrecht ordered Christian out of the courtroom after his outburst. She declared that he would not be in the courtroom for further testimony, but advocates for two of the victims’ families said those relatives wanted Christian to hear what they said. The judge decided he could be put in a space Wednesday where he could hear and see the speakers, and they could see him, but he would not be able to disrupt the proceedings.
Christian had also yelled during his 2017 arraignment. Facing a courtroom that included Micah Fletcher, the surviving victim of the stabbing, he shouted, “Free speech or die, Portland! You’ve got no safe place. This is America. Get out if you don’t like free speech.”
He continued: “Death to the enemies of America! Death to Antifa! You call it terrorism, I call it patriotism. Die!”
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
