PORTLAND, Ore. — Police have identified the victims in two separate deadly stabbings in Old Town that occurred within hours of each other on Sept. 30.
The victim of the second stabbing was 53-year-old Mark Anthony Davis, according to a news release from the Portland Police Bureau released Oct. 7. The medical examiner confirmed his cause of death to be from a stab wound and ruled his death a homicide, police said.
On Sept. 30, just after 8:30 p.m., officers responded to a report of a stabbing on the intersection of Northwest Broadway and Couch Street, according to an earlier news release. Paramedics on scene found the victim deceased, prompting police to launch an investigation.
Police subsequently identified Kalil Ford, 20, as a suspect in the stabbing. He was booked in the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of second degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon on the morning of Oct. 1.
Ford had been arrested earlier that same week on assault charges, according to court documents. He punched a woman in the head and hit her multiple times with a broom handle, leaving her to bleed on the sidewalk near 1620 Northwest 14th Street, police said.
On Tuesday, Oct. 18, police identified the victim of the other Sept. 30 stabbing, which happened a couple of hours earlier and just a few blocks away. The victim's name is Anthony Matthew Hartley. He was 40 years old.
Officers responded to a report of a stabbing around 11:28 a.m. at the intersection of West Burnside Street and Northwest 3rd Avenue. When police arrived, they found a man, later identified as Hartley, on the sidewalk. Paramedics determined that he was dead.
Police arrested and charged Dorian Cannon, 50, with second degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon for the stabbing. Detectives located Cannon a couple blocks north of the crime scene.
Court documents show Cannon was arrested earlier that week on minor charges and that he has a long criminal history including charges like harassment, trespassing, theft and bias crime dating back to 2004.
In 2020, Cannon was charged with bias crime after police said he threatened a TriMet employee with a knife. Documents reveal Cannon spent some time in the Oregon State Hospital before pleading no contest to that charge. He was sentenced to several months in prison. Court documents also show his fitness to proceed was drawn into question by the court.
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“Any time we have violence on our streets, it’s concerning for sure," said Sergeant Kevin Allen with Portland police. "We’re glad that we have someone in custody, so the situation appears to be stabilized at this point.”
The city of Portland has grappled with an ongoing increase in violence over the past few years. There were 88 homicides in Portland in 2021, up from 57 in 2020 and 36 in 2019, according to a police dashboard that tracks crime statistics. Portland police report there have been 78 homicides in the city this year, which puts Portland on pace to exceed last year's number of homicides.
Here's a look at the number of homicides in Portland each year since 2016, according to the PPB dashboard:
- 2022: 78 (as of Oct. 18)
- 2021: 88
- 2020: 57
- 2019: 36
- 2018: 26
- 2017: 25
- 2016: 16