A struggle over a snub-nosed rifle left four dead during a strong-arm marijuana robbery gone horribly wrong, a Multnomah County jury heard Monday as a prosecutor and a defense lawyer delivered their opening statements.
The state argues Jeremy Lenoire was one of three masked gunmen who burst into the Southeast Portland home — and the only one of the trio to survive the June 6, 2021 quadruple homicide.
He faces two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of 31-year-old Mitchell Nacoste, who lived at the home containing a 100-pound trove of marijuana, and his brother, Kendall Gragg, 27.
Two of the robbers — Donovan Lenford, 24, and 23-year-old Eyion Willis — also died as Nacoste fought back.
Lenoire, now 31, is charged with what’s known as “felony murder” — meaning he’s accused of committing the robbery that caused the deaths, not necessarily pulling the trigger.
“He was there, he had a gun,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Shawn Overstreet told the jury. “At the very minimum, he was there simply to go and take some stuff.”
Defense attorney Alexander Hamalian, meanwhile, claimed Lenoire is a victim of mistaken identity who had traveled to Portland with the marijuana bandits but only to attend social justice protests.
Lenoire’s legally-acquired .22-caliber firearm was found at the scene — but Hamalian argued it had been used by one of the deceased. Nine millimeter casings were also found at the scene but no matching pistol. Hamalian said the third gunman, the surviving accomplice, must have taken it.
“For maybe the first time in my career, the evidence of his gun at the scene, where four dead bodies exist, is also going to be a reason why I’m going to ask you to find him not guilty,” Hamalian told the jury of eight women and six men, including two alternates.
Jurors also heard testimony Monday from Sara G. Jones, 39, who was Nacoste’s girlfriend of four years and the only eyewitness to the killing.
Jones said they had left the front door open with the screen door latched and were watching television around 10:40 p.m. when three men rushed in, guns drawn and shouting “get down!”
Nacoste entered the front of the house from the kitchen and grabbed the rifle as the gunman fired 22 times indiscriminately into the room, fatally wounding Gregg as he laid on a couch and Jones dived for cover.
The second gunman moved forward firing a pistol, Jones said, but Nacoste wrested control over the rifle and shot the two robbers, both in the torso. He was mortally wounded in the process.
Shortly after the killing, Jones told a detective the fleeing gunman was possibly Hispanic, according to a transcript, a fact that Hamalian said strengthened his mistaken identity defense.
Hamalian said his client didn’t match that description — and claimed another man who had “business dealings” with the brothers did.
On the witness stand, however, Jones remembered the attack differently and said it was the gunman with the rifle who had lighter skin.
Overstreet, the prosecutor, said the robbers had taped over the tread of their shoes and that all three men left their cellphones with a woman back in Texas.
Another woman rented a white van in Texas and drove the three armed men to Portland, the prosecutor said, but Lenoire drove the van back alone and told Willis’ girlfriend what had really happened.
“He saw Mr. Willis get shot and hit the ground,” Overstreet said. “He was there.”
—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083, zsparling@oregonian.com or @pdxzane.
Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe.
Prosecutors say Jeremy Lenoire was one of three gunmen seeking to rob Portland brothers of their marijuana. Read More
