Blood found in suspect’s room, detective testifies

Published 5:00 am Saturday, June 25, 2011

Parrish Bennette Jr., 16, center, sits in court Friday in Portland for a bail hearing. Bennette is accused in the killing of Yashanee Vaughn, 14, whose body has not been found.

PORTLAND — Prosecutors said in court Friday that a Portland teenager accused of murder in the death of his girlfriend acknowledged responsibility, saying in a conversation with his father that his gun just “went off” and killed the girl.

Authorities say 16-year-old Parrish Bennette Jr. fatally shot his 14-year-old girlfriend, Yashanee Vaughn, in mid-March and then hid her body. Vaughn was reported missing by her mother on March 19 and has not been seen since.

Bennette has pleaded not guilty and has denied confessing to his father.

Multnomah County deputy district attorney Brian Davidson argued Friday that Bennette should be remain in custody throughout the trial.

Blood stains

A Portland police detective testifying at Bennette’s bail hearing said evidence shows that pools of blood soaked through carpet in the teen’s bedroom.

Portland police Detective Mark Slater said a forensic search also revealed blood stains on the walls of the room that appeared in “wiping, swirling patterns,” which he said reflected a cleanup attempt.

Also found in Bennette’s room and a hall closet: isopropyl alcohol and bleach, which Slater said were used to try to clean the traces of blood.

“(Bennette’s) father said he smelled a strong smell of bleach coming from his son’s room the next day (after the Vaughn’s disappearance),” Slater testified.

Fluid inside a carpet-cleaning vacuum found in the home also had traces of human blood.

Bennette walked into the courtroom Friday morning in a sweatshirt and jeans, shackled at the wrists and ankles. He maintained a tight smile and looked at the 40 or so people gathered in the courtroom, most of them family or supporters of Vaughn.

When he turned and sat at the defense table, he began to laugh.

Deputies warned spectators to stay calm during the proceedings. One of the men in the gallery was led out of the courtroom after shouting at Bennette.

The testimony Friday morning focused on Bennette’s interviews with detectives and the blood found in his room.

Cellphone records

In interviews with homicide detectives, Bennette said he didn’t know what happened to Vaughn, saying she walked off toward a light rail train after he bought her dinner at a Taco Bell on March 19.

But cellphone tower records show activity from Vaughn’s phone at Bennette’s house at 7:30 p.m. on March 19 — half an hour after he said she walked to the train.

According to Slater’s testimony: Parrish Bennette Jr. told his father that the gun went off, killing Vaughn. When confronted with that information in an interview at the Portland Police Bureau after Vaughn’s disappearance, Bennette crumpled.

“It was like an instant reaction,” Slater testified. “He said his stomach hurt, and he continued to say it hurt.”

Slater said Bennette denied telling his father that he shot his girlfriend.

Slater said Parrish Bennette Jr. accused his father of betrayal on the ride home after the interview, according to Parrish Bennette Sr.’s girlfriend.

‘They’ll never find her’

During the same conversation, Slater says Bennette told his father, “They won’t go up there. They’ll never find her up there.”

That statement led detectives on an unsuccessful three-day search for Vaughn’s body in the Rocky Butte area of Portland.

Vaughn’s mother, Shaquita Louis, also testified Friday, saying her daughter was “the life of the crowd,” a girl stuck to her cellphone and Facebook account.

“She was a typical 14-year-old trying to find herself,” she said.

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