Michael Epps Jr., 38, was found shot to death in the early morning of October 1, 2020, near Northeast 111th Avenue and Sandy Boulevard in Northeast Portland. Officers who responded to a 9-1-1 call discovered him at about 5:30 a.m.; the Oregon State Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death a gunshot wound and ruled it a homicide.

Portland investigators identified Quentin Blackmon as a suspect and the Multnomah County District Attorney charged him with second-degree murder with a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon with a firearm, and being a felon in possession of a firearm in connection with Epps’s killing. Blackmon was also charged in a linked August 24, 2020 shooting at the same location, with attempted murder counts. His murder trial has resulted in three mistrials; the trial was scheduled to begin in September 2024.

A vigil for Michael Epps that evening turned deadly when a shooting at about 7:45 p.m. killed an uninvolved person, Jimmy Lee Melton. Epps’s brother, Marquise Epps, subsequently pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in Melton’s death and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.