HILLSBORO, Ore. — A Washington County jury unanimously returned guilty verdicts on all counts Friday in the murder trial of Daniel Gore, accused of sexually assaulting and killing 13-year-old Milana Li on Mother's Day in 2022.
Gore was 16 at the time of Li's murder, but the court determined to try him as an adult. That decision, as well as Friday's guilty verdict, means Gore could face a life sentence instead of the eight-year maximum he might face as a juvenile.
Li was a sixth grader at Conestoga Middle School in Beaverton. Her mother worked nights and only discovered her missing the morning after Li was last seen at their apartment building on May 8, 2022. There were community-wide search efforts, culminating in the discovery of Li's body in a stream near Barrows Park in south Beaverton.
Investigators quickly ruled Li's death a homicide, finding evidence she'd been sexually abused and strangled to death. Surveillance video from a bus stop placed her with Gore shortly before her death, and police arrested him within a week.
Before Li's murder, Gore already had a record in the juvenile justice system, and he had pending charges of second-degree arson, criminal mischief and theft at the time of his arrest. He'd been placed on probation in February 2022 after another theft incident — and though the Washington County District Attorney's office asked that he be held in a youth detention center, he was instead released to his family in Salem on the recommendation of juvenile justice officials.
But Gore soon ran away from home, and his father notified the juvenile department in April that his son was likely staying in Beaverton. That notice was not passed on to police or prosecutors.
Detectives said that Gore initially lied about when he'd last seen Li, and friends of Gore testified that he'd admitted to “doing something bad” and later “handling it.”
In closing arguments, prosecutors said the evidence pointing to Gore's guilt was overwhelming. Forensics found his DNA inside Li's body, cell phone data tracked both of them to where Gore had been hiding out, and his blanket was found covering her body.
Prosecutors also said that the cellphone data showed Gore trying to cover his tracks — texting Li's phone after she'd already been killed to indicate that he was looking for her, despite both their phones being pinged near a friend's house where Gore went to stay.
After the murder, Gore also asked a friend for pictures from a trip to California and posted them to social media, which the state argued was another failed attempt to set up an alibi.
"Not all your questions will be answered," the prosecution told the jury, "but base your decision on the evidence."
The defense argued that a mystery man's DNA found underneath Li's fingernails and in her pants showed that someone else had killed her, and that Gore and Li had a consensual relationship accounting for his DNA. Gore's clothes did not have Li's DNA on them, another key piece of evidence for the defense.
"We have to follow the evidence, or this is how people get convicted of murder who didn't commit murder," the defense attorney said. "Imagine if you all convicted him and then you read in the paper that they found the guy with that DNA ... You would've convicted the wrong person."
According to the defense, prosecutors ignored any DNA evidence that didn't fit their narrative, namely that of the mystery man. And though Gore did have mud on his clothes, the defense argued that he could have picked it up anywhere — not just at the scene of the crime.
"You don't have to rape or kill someone to get mud on your clothes — not in Oregon, you don't," the defense attorney argued.
But in the end, the jury took less than 90 minutes to reach a unanimous verdict. After hearing the jury's decision, Gore did not make any comment.
Gore's sentencing is set for 1:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 2.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more details as they emerge.