On September 30, 1994, 26-year-old Shango Yamaya Wade was fatally shot in North Portland while seated in a red van near North Killingsworth and Rodney Streets. He had moved from Los Angeles County to Portland to work in construction and was accompanied that day by 30-year-old Deborah Jean Payton, who was also shot and killed.

The case traces back to a burglary of Wade’s apartment on September 22, 1994, when a television and stereo equipment were stolen. A neighbor later saw people loading similar items into a light blue Mercedes-Benz. Wade and a friend detained one suspect, who escaped before police arrived. On the day of the killings Wade confronted Earl Douglas Wilkins at the salon where Wilkins worked, and witnesses described a heated exchange. Wilkins then approached the van and fired multiple shots, striking both Wade and Payton. The van crossed the street and hit a telephone pole.

Wilkins was arrested, tried, and convicted of aggravated murder, theft, and being a felon in possession of a firearm; he was sentenced to life without parole. A roadside memorial for Wade and Payton, maintained by Wade’s close friends, stands at the shooting site. Did anyone who knew Wade or Payton have memories of them or details about the burglary that could help clarify what led to this confrontation?