PORTLAND, Ore. — A mother and her 10-month-old baby were visiting a friend Saturday night when they were nearly shot by a stranger outside a Southeast Portland apartment building.
As first reported by The Oregonian, the suspect, identified as 41-year-old Cecil Rayford, was charged with two counts of attempted murder after he pulled a gun on Cassie Gepford and her daughter.
"I didn't even realize what was going on until I seen the gunfire, the flash, and heard it," Gepford told KGW on Wednesday.
She said the suspect came out of one apartment and entered another, then turned and pointed a handgun at the pair of them a couple of car lengths away in the parking lot.
"He looks at me and my daughter, holds his arms out and was like, 'I don't (expletive) care anymore,' and shot," Gepford said.
The bullet missed the mother and daughter. Gepford said she hurried up the stairs of the apartment building and called police. When the officers arrived, they took Rayford into custody. According to court documents, investigators also found a single 9mm shell casing in front of Rayford's unit and located the handgun under his window.
"If we would have been just a couple of feet further into the parking lot, she might have got hit and that terrifies me," Gepford said. "My whole world is right here in this little baby and I would be lost without her."
As investigators appeared to search his apartment Wednesday evening, Rayford sat behind bars in the Multnomah County Detention Center, facing attempted murder, reckless endangerment, and felon in possession of a firearm charges.
Gepford told KGW that although her heart breaks for him, she hopes he'll be held accountable.
"Gun violence is everywhere these days," she said. "Unfortunately, you walk out of your house and you come visit a friend and you might get shot. Just keep your kids close to you because you never know when you might lose them."
Rayford's next court appearance is set for Sept. 4.