On July 17, 2020, three people were killed in the Russell neighborhood of Northeast Portland. Victims included 40-year-old Tashia Cobb, her fiancé Elmer Edwin Hughes III, and their friend Lawrence Wayne Murphy. Officers responding to an in-progress disturbance in the 2500 block of Northeast 122nd Avenue found the three deceased on scene.

Prosecutors say neighbor Brett Edward Pruett, 61, a convicted felon, used a firearm to kill Cobb and Hughes outside the residence and then killed Murphy inside. The charging instrument alleges these deaths occurred during the same criminal episode; Pruett was arrested the next day, July 18, 2020, and charged with three counts of first-degree murder, multiple weapons offenses, burglary, and an earlier alleged assault involving a deadly weapon.

A Multnomah County jury later returned guilty verdicts on all counts on October 6, 2023. Sentencing was scheduled for January 8. Does anyone have information about Tashia Cobb or connections in that Russell neighborhood that could shed light on the dispute described in the charging papers?