Evelin Navarro-Barajas was 23 years old when she was gunned down near the intersection of Northeast Killingsworth Street and Cully Boulevard in Portland on June 18, 2020, and more than six years later, no one has ever been arrested. One of her friends survived that night's gunfire, but the case remains unsolved, and her family is still seeking answers.
A Night by the River Turned Deadly
According to a public advisory from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, suspects exited a vehicle and fired multiple shots into a parking lot group that included children, where Navarro-Barajas was spending the evening after having spent the afternoon at the river with friends. The FBI says investigators determined the shooting was gang-motivated, despite finding no indication that Navarro-Barajas or her friends were affiliated with any gang. The KOIN.com segment that revisited the case this week noted that some believe the shooting may be gang related, though the FBI's own account makes clear the victims themselves were not.
Police records obtained through Crime Stoppers of Oregon show that Portland Police officers responded to reports of shots fired at 11:49 p.m. that night in the 6700 block of NE Killingsworth Street. Officers located two gunshot victims: an adult male was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while Navarro-Barajas was pronounced dead at the scene.
Federal Reward Money Still on the Table
In July 2021, the FBI joined the investigation and announced a reward of up to $15,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of those responsible, supplementing an existing $2,500 Crime Stoppers reward to bring the total to $17,500. That reward was offered through the Metro Safe Streets Task Force, which combines the FBI, the ATF, the Portland Police Bureau, and other local law enforcement partners. Crime Stoppers of Oregon's own program guarantees anonymity for tipsters, though its policy excludes law enforcement officers, perpetrators, victims, and their immediate family members from collecting payout funds.
Navarro-Barajas was the oldest of four children raised by her mother, Sonia Barajas.
The Case Remains Unsolved
Navarro-Barajas was killed during a 2020 shooting in Portland. Her case remains unsolved.
Gun violence has continued to trouble Northeast Portland. A May 2026 shooting near NE 65th Avenue and Killingsworth Street injured two people, and an early-August shooting inside a Cully home in the 5800 block of Northeast Alberta Street injured six people, as Hoodline reported in its coverage of the incident, Six Injured In Cully House Shooting As Suspects Flee.
Podcast and Broadcast Team Up to Revive the Case
The case resurfaced this week when Alisha Holland and Josh McCullough, co-hosts of the true-crime podcast Murder in the Rain, joined KOIN 6's AM Extra for a True Crime Tuesday segment to look back on the unsolved murder. The segment, published by KOIN.com, revisited the case as part of the station's True Crime Tuesday feature.
That kind of multi-platform push — pairing traditional news coverage, nonprofit reward campaigns, and true-crime podcasting — has become one of the main tools left for keeping a case like this in public view once physical leads go cold. Six years on, Evelin Navarro-Barajas's family is still waiting for someone to come forward.
