![]() He's also facing a slew of charges connected to a crime spree in Northern California. ![]() Lara will be extradited to Deschutes County in the next 1 to 3 weeks. Those charges could carry the maximum penalty of death, which Hummel is considering. Lara was indicted on aggravated murder charges last Friday. Her cause of death has been ruled blunt force trauma. ![]() Sawyer's body was found off Highway 126 in Redmond. Lara also told us where Kaylee's body was," Hummel said. In the days following the death of Kaylee Sawyer in Bend last summer, suspected killer Edwin Lara confessed his involvement in her death to virtually everyone he encountered. Lara law enforcement did and he gave information that is consistent with the current states theory of the case and Mr. It was during that interrogation that Lara told officers where he had put Kaylee's body. Hummel told KATU News Lara's story changed during an interrogation with law enforcement. He came upon her on campus, kidnapped her, attempted to sexually assault her and killed her." The evidence is contrary to that and shows he did not kill Kaylee with his car, but through assaulting her," Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel said. Lara had initially reported that he struck Kaylee with his car and that's what killed her. The young woman's purse was found in a shed at Lara's home, along with bloody clothes. In 2019, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed Kaylee’s Law, which requires schools to do background checks on officers, strips officers of the stop-and-frisk authority, requires security uniforms to be clearly different than actual law enforcement, and requires patrol cars to be visibly labeled and have video cameras inside.The man accused of killing Kaylee Sawyer first abducted and tried to sexually assault the 23-year-old woman, according to the Deschutes County District Attorney's Office.Įdwin Lara, a security officer at a Bend college, initially told investigators he accidentally hit and killed Sawyer while he was out on patrol late last month. The attorneys claim nothing was done and that COCC officers were issued uniforms that were very similar to Bend Police and were armed with pepper spray, ballistic vests, body cameras, handcuffs, and a vehicle with a cage. An internal audit paid for by the college confirmed these accusations and recommended the safety department make changes to its conduct and its officers’ appearance. Related: Should Campuses Defund the Police?Ī press release from the family’s attorneys said the public safety department had been previously accused of acting outside its legal authority. She then became trapped in the car, which was equipped with a cage and doors that couldn’t open from the inside. According to the lawsuit, Sawyer accepted a ride from Lara thinking he was a police officer. The lawsuit also accused the college of allowing its campus safety vehicles to closely resemble police patrol cars. ![]() This tragedy will forever resonate in the heart of our community,” said attorney Tim Williams. “COCC had the opportunity to discover that Lara once plotted a murder and struggled with an urge to kill most of his life. The attorneys also claim Lara’s mannerisms were so concerning that one female cadet refused to ride in the same patrol car as him. The family’s attorneys said the school’s Campus Public Safety Department knew about Lara’s fascination with dead bodies and that he showed nude photographs and pornographic videos of himself and a woman to his coworkers. Sawyer’s family filed a federal lawsuit against COCC and three college officials in July 2017, accusing the school of failing to do an adequate background check on Lara and fostering a culture that encouraged reckless behavior among its staff. “I can mourn Kaylee, my daughter, and not Kaylee Sawyer, the murder victim.” “I’m now able to rest my daughter in peace, and everybody who has been responsible for this horrific crime has been held accountable,” VanCleve said of the settlement. Juli VanCleave, Kaylee’s mother, said the family plans to use part of the settlement to continue KK’s Readers, a program that provides books for kids in head start and early education programs, according to KTVZ. Related: Ex-Oregon College Safety Officer Gets Life for Killing Woman During Shift ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |