YAMHILL, Ore. — A 19-year-old man was arrested for murder in the Nov. 27 killing of a Polk County teen in rural Yamhill, the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office (YCSO) reported Wednesday.
Brendan Dante Waco from Cornelius was arrested Tuesday night and lodged in the Yamhill County Jail. He faces a second-degree murder charge. The investigation is ongoing and more arrests are expected, the sheriff's office said.
A 16-year-old boy was killed Monday afternoon in the area of Northwest Russell Creek Road in rural Yamhill, according to YCSO. He had been shot multiple times. The sheriff's office said it's not reporting the identity of the victim at this time due to his age and the ongoing investigation.
"It's always a tragedy but to see individuals of this age, you know their lives and their family's lives are going to be impacted forever from an incident of this nature," said Yamhill County Sheriff's Captain Sam Elliot.
On Monday afternoon, a description and surveillance photo of a vehicle linked to the killing was distributed to law enforcement agencies in the area. Early Tuesday morning, around 1 a.m., a Washington County deputy saw the vehicle parked in a Cornelius neighborhood and alerted YCSO.
Deputies responded to the area and after obtaining a search warrant, they seized the vehicle, a tan 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe, at around 6 a.m. YCSO detectives found out that a WCSO deputy had seen the same vehicle at an area business on Monday, but it had different license plates at that time.
The YCSO Special Investigations Unit obtained a search warrant for the Cornelius residence and at around 8 p.m. Tuesday, deputies served the warrant, arrested Waco and recovered items of evidence related to the case including a gun. Elliot said lab tests would indicate whether it was used in the murder. He said it's also unclear whether or not the victim and suspect knew each other.
"We expect there to be more arrests," Elliott said.
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