In a stark culmination of a tragic event that shook the Portland community over a year ago, 23-year-old Shane Martin McKeever has entered a guilty plea to charges stemming from an incident where he drove his vehicle into a homeless camp, resulting in the death of one individual and the attempted harm of another. The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office reported that McKeever pled guilty to First Degree Manslaughter and no contest to Second Degree Attempted Murder.
The fatal encounter, which led to the death of David Bentley, a resident of the transient camp, occurred underneath the Morrison Bridge on-ramp on February 25, 2024; a swift and senseless act that left the homeless community and Bentley's relatives grappling with loss. As part of the plea agreement, McKeever is expected on August 19 to receive a sentence of 192 months for the manslaughter charge paired with a concurrent 90-month term for attempted murder, a resolution that Deputy District Attorney Austin Buhl hopes will serve as some measure of justice for Bentley's grieving family, who, despite the hardships of street life, was making inroads toward reuniting with his family and improving his conditions when he was slain.
The prosecution detailed the ruthless manner in which McKeever executed his assault by driving onto the curb at a high speed of approximately 46 mph, aiming directly at the victims, based on the vehicle data obtained from the airbag control module. Individuals from the camp were key to McKeever’s arrest, guiding police to his location after he abandoned his vehicle and fled the scene on foot amidst gunshots from an unidentified source. "Despite living a difficult life on the streets of Portland, David Bentley was a very well-liked individual in his community who was killed for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time in a random act of extreme violence," Buhl explained following McKeever's plea, as per the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office.
