“There is no way. I sat next to that guy.”

That was Melissa Miller’s first thought upon seeing that Edwin Lara was suspected of murdering Kaylee Sawyer.

Miller and Lara were in many of the same classes while studying criminal justice at Central Oregon Community College. Both graduated with associate degrees in criminal justice in 2015 and participated in the college’s Criminal Justice Club.

“I was shell-shocked when I saw him involved in this,” Miller said Friday. “The last time we had talked, he was on track to becoming a police officer. He must have fallen off his rocker.”

Lara, a part-time COCC public safety officer, told his wife, newly hired Bend Police Officer Isabel Ponce-Lara, that he panicked after running over Sawyer with his work vehicle early Sunday and dumped her body, Ponce-Lara told Redmond Police on Monday. Sawyer, 23, of Bend, died of blunt force trauma, according to Bend Police Lt. Brian Kindel, and Lara has been charged with one count of murder. He also has been charged with several crimes including attempted murder in California, where he was caught Tuesday.

Lara attended classes at the college between fall 2012 and fall 2014, receiving his degree in 2015, according to COCC Director of College Relations Ron Paradis.

Miller says she remembers Lara as a good student and “just your typical guy,” who would often ask her about life and school, and always participated in school events like food drives.

Lara attended Madras High School for ninth and 10th grade, according to the Jefferson County School District.

While he was in high school, Lara attended Iglesia Getsemani in Madras with his parents, according to Oscar Palomera, who was then also a member of the church and is now a pastor at Iglesia La Obra in Madras.

Palomera said Lara was active in the church, playing piano with the church music group.

“I’m very surprised to see this going on,” Palomera said. “Sometimes things change drastically in people’s lives. This is about as drastic as I could have ever seen his life going.”

Lara had been working as a security officer for COCC since 2014 and underwent a criminal background check in December 2014 as part of the hiring process, according to records obtained Thursday by The Bulletin. The background check found he did not have a record of felonies or misdemeanors in the seven years prior; he was not listed in the National Sex Offender Registry nor did criminal records turn up in a national criminal search. Lara had no Oregon criminal record, but had several convictions of driving violations between 2004 and 2006, including driving with a suspended license, speeding and operating a vehicle without the proper lighting equipment.

The documents also state that Lara was licensed as an unarmed professional private security provider and include a copy of his state Department of Public Safety Standards and Training license.

Eleni Vourdobas, who just finished her freshman year at COCC, said she often saw Lara working while she was living in the residence hall. In May, Lara helped Vourdobas file a complaint against a roommate who was harassing her.

“He helped with that situation and was really nice. He checked in with me often and didn’t seem creepy,” Vourdobas said. “It was a real shocker when I saw that he was involved in this because I saw him around the residence hall every day and he seemed totally normal.”

Vourdobas, who has since moved out of the residence halls and into the Awbrey Pines apartments where Sawyer lived with her boyfriend, said she never saw Lara in the apartment complex, but frequently saw him driving on NW Regency Street between the apartments and the COCC campus. Sawyer was last seen around 1 a.m. Sunday walking away from the parking lot of Awbrey Pines along Regency Street.

Lara previously worked for Security Pros, Inc., a private security company in Bend, from May to December 2014, when he was hired by COCC, according to Security Pros President Brian Shawver. Ponce-Lara, who is on administrative leave from Bend Police, also was employed by Security Pros from June 2010 to January 2011.

Shawver declined to comment on both Lara and Ponce-Lara’s performance, citing company policy.

Ponce-Lara’s defense attorney, Brendon Alexander, said his client has not authorized him to make a statement on the case.

Alexander did reiterate that she reported Lara’s actions to Redmond Police “as soon as she could safely do so.”

— Reporter: 541-633-2108,

cduffy@bendbulletin.com