BEAVERTON, Ore. — DNA evidence will play a central role in the trial of a 13-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted and murdered on Mother's Day in 2022.
Milana Li was a sixth grader at Conestoga Middle School in Beaverton. Her alleged killer, Daniel Gore, was 16 at the time and the last person to be seen with Li.
Lawyers presented opening arguments Wednesday, laying out the timeline leading up to Li's disappearance and following her murder.
Prosecutors said Gore sexually assaulted and strangled Li near a tent, where he lived as a runaway. Then, prosecutors said, he dragged her body into a creek and covered it with a blanket.
Investigators found Gore's DNA inside of Li. They also found her broken fingernail nearby, part of the evidence that she fought back against her attacker.
Prosecutors shared that Gore was the last person seen with Li on surveillance video near bus stops. Li's mother worked the night shift and reported her missing when she returned from work at 7 a.m. and didn't see her daughter.
Gore is being tried as an adult, not as a juvenile — a rare judicial decision following reforms to Oregon's juvenile justice system. The ruling means Gore could face a life sentence, rather than a maximum of eight years behind bars.
Defense attorneys representing Gore said that Li and Gore had a friendship and a sexual relationship.
Investigators found unknown male DNA underneath Li's fingernails, which the defense points to as evidence that Gore is not the real killer.
The defense admitted that Gore initially lied to investigators about when he and Li parted ways before her murder, saying he was nervous. They also said Gore lied and said they did not have a sexual relationship.
Friends of the teenagers will testify in the coming days.
Prosecutors said the jury will learn from testimony that Gore ran to a friend's apartment after the murder occurred with scratches on his face and called his girlfriend and told her "he had done something bad."
When confronted the next day at a Beaverton library, Gore ran from police officers and initiated a 20-minute chase before he was arrested.
The trial is expected to last about two weeks.
If you or someone you know have experienced sexual assault and need support, help is available.
You can contact the Sexual Assault Resource Center at 503-626-9100. They are located at 4900 Southwest Griffith Drive, Suite 135, Beaverton, OR 97005.
The Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN) National Sexual Assault Hotline can be reached at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or rainn.org. It is available 24/7.