Even in woke Portland, where the district attorney refuses to prosecute the city's Star Wars cantina-scene panoply of weirdos, this guy wasn't getting a pass. And that is saying something.
A trans activist was sentenced to 22 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter for stabbing a cab driver to death last Easter.
On the night of the murder, Moses Lopez, wearing a dress and a tiara, became enraged and used his brass knuckle knife to stab cab driver Reese Lawhon in the neck.
Breaking exclusive: On Easter Sunday, a taxi driver was brutally stabbed to death in #Portland. Police delayed releasing the suspect's name & avoided pronouns or providing much information. I investigated. Murder suspect Moses J. Lopez is trans. #trans https://t.co/NnImVInd9f
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) April 11, 2023
Independent journalist Andy Ngo was the first to report that Lopez was a trans activist who had a history of violent acts leading to the night of the murder.
Six days before the murder of driver Reese Lawhon, Lopez was arrested and charged with felonies for using a knife to threaten a shopper at a Bi-Mart in nearby Hillsboro, Washington County. Lopez, 30, was released without bail and headed to Portland.
Just before the Hillsboro arrest, Lopez had been charged with two felony counts of unlawful use of weapon and two counts of menacing in Coos County. Lopez was released from that jurisdiction as well. He missed his court hearing on April 6, and a warrant was issued for his arrest — three days before he allegedly murdered Lawhon.
The previous violent acts were erased from his record in exchange for the deal allowing Lopez to plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter and unlawful use of a weapon.
At the sentencing hearing this week, the judge and the victim's family were hoping to hear a note of contrition from the 30-year-old man, who already received a reduction in his charges in a plea deal. However, Lopez laughed, joked, smirked, and refused to apologize for knifing his victim. The victim, Radio Cab driver Lawhon, 43, was killed because Lopez insisted, that as a trans person, he felt unsafe.
“'I refuse to apologize for the lack of help that I so desperately needed,' he told the court. 'I ended up in a very scary part of town where I was genuinely afraid,'" the Oregonian reported.
During the hearing, he made up a series of excuses for his behavior that night.
"Moses J. Lopez gave a litany of reasons why everything went wrong: a lost debit card, static on the dispatcher’s radio and a garbled address that led the cabbie to drive Lopez not to Lopez’s apartment..." h/t @PDXzane https://t.co/vIvuC0QKeU
— Wright Gazaway (@WrightKATU) February 23, 2024
According to the District Attorney's report, the victim drove Lopez, who'd been partying, to a destination he had confirmed. But when it dawned on Lopez that it was the wrong location, and they began driving to the correct destination, the trans activist stabbed the cabbie in the neck.
The DA says Lopez's brass knuckles outfitted with a knife were used as the murder weapon.
Lawhon bled out in the cab.
Transgender knifes cabbie to death in Portland; mainstream media plays dumb: Reports from the Oregonian newspaper avoid noting that the assailant, Moses J. Lopez, is a transgender activist with a history of violent threats..... https://t.co/ZGEpkKYALU https://t.co/4kcqLabw8T
— broompilot52 (@broompilot521) April 14, 2023
The Oregonian reported that at first, Lopez called 9-1-1 to demand a ride. He was told to call a cab.
The victim was a well-known musician in Portland. His sister called Lopez a "monster" at the hearing. He smirked.
When he wasn't threatening people or stabbing them in the neck, the Oregonian reported that Lopez was "a certified nursing assistant at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in North Portland."
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