Prosecutors Uncover New Evidence That Could Have Kept Accused Murderer Off Streets

A man accused of a fatal stabbing in Old Town on Sept. 30 was released unsupervised from jail the day before by a rookie judge, despite pleas from prosecutors to keep him under county supervision.

Now, documents filed today in Multnomah County Circuit Court show that Portland police failed to obtain video evidence that could have been used to keep him off the streets. Police have launched an internal affairs investigation.

The saga raises troubling questions about the reliability of several key components in Portland’s criminal justice system, even as elected officials are dealing with repeated criticism that the city’s leadership is failing to confront dangerous conditions on the streets.

It began Sept. 28, when police found a bloodied woman lying on the ground outside an affordable housing complex near the Pearl District. She accused Kalil Ford, 20, of punching her in the head, dragging her inside the building, and leaving her to bleed on the sidewalk. Ford was arrested, charged with misdemeanor assault, and booked in jail.

Senior deputy district attorney Adam Gibbs reviewed the case the next morning. He told WW he didn’t believe there was enough evidence, at the time, to charge Ford with a felony—there wasn’t “serious physical injury” or use of a weapon.

Under state law, Gibbs argued in a later legal filing, Ford could not be detained prior to trial because he was not charged with a “violent felony.”

Ford arrived in court that afternoon, Sept 29. An intern for the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, on instructions from Gibbs, requested that Judge Rebecca Lease release him under county supervision.

The defense attorney assigned to the court that afternoon said that Ford was “mute” and communicated through a counselor from Central City Concern. Ford appeared to be capable of speaking the day before: A court filing describes him telling the arresting officer that “she made me assault her.”

In a later interview documented in court filings, Ford said he was unemployed for two years and had never committed a crime. The interviewer noted that he had in fact been convicted of trespassing when he was 18. According to the interviewer, Ford “would stare for long periods of time and then eventually would say completely random, off-topic things.”

Ford’s attorney argued he would likely be unable to report to county pretrial release services and would end up being arrested if the court required supervision.

The legal intern for the DA’s office did not put up a fight. Judge Lease, an unelected pro tem judge who had been on the job only a few months, considered her options. “I am trying to determine how best to ensure Mr. Ford returns to court, and I am not certain how to accomplish that without some sort of more structured supervision,” she said.

But, after reviewing Ford’s minimal criminal history, she decided such supervision was unnecessary—and released Ford on his own recognizance.

The next day, Sept. 30, Ford was arrested for the murder of Mark Anthony Davis steps from Central City Concern’s Old Town Recovery Center. Ford allegedly described to police how he “intentionally stabbed Davis multiple times,” according to legal filings.

On Monday, prosecutors conducted their own investigation of Ford’s original assault charge. They sent their chief investigator, Peter Simpson, to the scene of the crime.

Simpson uncovered additional evidence that the police had not. He spoke to the victim, an elderly woman, “in more detail” than the responding officer, according to legal documents filed today by prosecutors.

She told Simpson that Ford had not only assaulted her, but kicked her out of her apartment and stole her phone. Simpson noted that she “had stitches to her forehead, two black eyes, and bruising to her forearm” as a result of the attack.

Simpson then talked to the building’s maintenance technician, who said the entire incident had been caught on video.

The building manager on duty when WW attempted to retrieve the video said it could only be released to law enforcement.

But it is described in detail in the legal filing. The victim is seated on a walker in the lobby, and Ford strikes her several times with a mop handle and kicks her “without any visible provocation,” according to Simpson’s report. Ford appears to grab something from her, pulling her out the front door, and throwing her to the ground. He then stomps on her head as she is lying on the sidewalk.

In today’s filing, prosecutors argue that given the new evidence, Ford committed a “violent felony.” This designation would have allowed prosecutors to argue at Ford’s arraignment that he should have been jailed while he awaited trial.

Prosecutors also added new charges: unlawful use of a weapon and felony assault. Gibbs cited the video evidence of “the curb stomping” as rationale for the new charges.

The victim said that Ford often walked her dog. He had been living in the building with his mother, according to an eviction notice filed in July against an apartment in both of their names. They had been behind on their rent since May and had been allowed to keep their apartment only after agreeing to pay back rent and $880 in fees.

Ford’s brother petitioned to become his legal guardian in 2017. According to that petition, both of Ford’s parents “are involved in drug activity” and his “mother has mental illness.”

Central City Concern declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation. So did the social worker who was working in the building’s lobby on Wednesday.

The Portland Police Bureau is conducting an internal affairs investigation into the incident, its spokesman Sgt. Kevin Allen told WW. He declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.

WW asked Gibbs to explain whether this case illustrated problems in the criminal justice system, and what could be done to fix them.

“It depends on your perspective,” he said, and offered a list: untreated mental illness and a criminal justice system unequipped to deal with it; strained law enforcement with limited resources unable to do thorough investigations; increased reliance on less experienced lawyers and interns resulting from staff turnover; laws that fail to “capture the severity of underlying conduct” the way people would expect; and, in other cases, charges that are more serious when they need be.

“We’re trying to solve all of them from everyone’s perspective at once—and no one’s happy,” Gibbs says.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the building’s maintenance technician had nearly thrown out the video. He nearly threw out the mop.