Bend Police continued their investigation Thursday afternoon into a Wednesday evening murder at Legacy Landing, a low-income apartment complex for seniors in Bend. Joshua Lawrence Smith has been charged with second-degree murder for allegedly killing his mother, Janice Marie Smith, 59.

Bend Police arrested a man on charges of second-degree murder for the death of 62-year-old David Hickman, who was found dead in a ditch by the Pacific Pride gas station Thursday.

The suspect was identified as 31-year-old Brian Lee Wynn in a news release sent by the Bend Police Department late Friday night. The release provided no additional information about Wynn, but court records indicate he has previously been charged with several felony and misdemeanor offenses.

Court records also indicate Wynn has been homeless since at least 2020, and was considered indigent for purposes of court appointed counsel in March, when he was arrested for disorderly conduct and third-degree escape.

Court records also show Wynn had severe mental health problems. In 2021, the Deschutes County Court found Wynn unfit to proceed with a charge of providing misinformation to a peace officer, and remanded his custody to Oregon State Hospital for mental health treatment.

It is unclear what kind of relationship Wynn and Hickman had, and Bend Police have not released a motive or Hickman’s cause of death.

The matter officially came to the police Thursday morning when police responded to a request for a welfare check. When authorities arrived, they found Hickman dead in a ditch west of the Pacific Pride Gas Station along the 3300 block of North U.S. Highway 97.

Wynn was arrested after an autopsy determined Hickman’s death was the result of suspicious injuries.

Wynn was also charged with unlawful use of a weapon, but Bend Police have not released what type of weapon he was suspected of using.

This investigation is ongoing, and more further information will be released on Monday, said the news release.