Late afternoon on March 19, 2017, Jason D. Benton, 42, was found dead in the parking lot of an east Vancouver, Washington, apartment complex alongside 37-year-old Allen J. Collins. Both men had multiple gunshot wounds; the medical examiner ruled their deaths caused by those wounds. Neighbors reported hearing gunfire shortly after 5 p.m. and a witness saw a man and a woman near a silver Toyota Prius; the man fled in that vehicle, which belonged to his girlfriend, and the bodies were discovered moments later.

A witness who was a nurse’s assistant attempted aid but both victims died at the scene or before police arrived. Ten days later, 31-year-old Arkangel Howard was arrested at his mother’s home in North Portland; at the time of the shootings he had an outstanding bench warrant for a prior methamphetamine charge. During the investigation and trial, prosecutors said the motive remained known only to Howard; his girlfriend told investigators she heard an argument in the parking lot just before Howard opened fire. A .45 caliber Hi-Point pistol believed to be the murder weapon was recovered under a shed at the property where Howard was arrested.

Does anyone have information about Benton’s activities that afternoon or knew him personally?