Murder suspect in downtown Bend bar shooting arrested in Tennessee

Published 9:45 am Saturday, August 19, 2023

The suspect in a fatal shooting outside a downtown Bend bar Aug. 10 was arrested in Cleveland, Tennessee, on Friday night. His brother was also taken into custody.

Caleb Joseph Cegers, 20, of Bend was wanted for second-degree murder, and law enforcement officials believed his brother, Dahnte Nathaniel Cegers, 25, of Bend helped him leave Central Oregon after the slaying. Caleb Cegers was arrested “without incident” at a residence in Cleveland, Tennessee around 11:30 p.m. Eastern time Friday, according to a release from the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office. Dahnte Cegers was taken into custody earlier that evening.

The sheriff’s office had issued nationwide felony arrest warrants for both Cegers, Sgt. Jason Wall told The Bulletin on Friday.

Caleb Cegers has been charged with second-degree murder and the unlawful use of a weapon in connection with the shooting of Taylor Wyss, 33, of Redmond, according to a charging document filed in Deschutes County Circuit Court. His brother, Dahnte Cegers, has been charged with hindering prosecution, according to court documents.

Police issued the warrant for the younger Cegers’ arrest on Aug. 11 and for the older Cegers on Aug. 15, Wall said.

The U.S. Marshall Service and the Cleveland (Tennessee) City Police Department assisted with the apprehension of Caleb and Dahnte Cegers, according to the sheriff’s office.

The fatal shooting occurred after a fight broke out in Duda’s Billiards Bar around midnight Aug. 10, authorities have said.

Wyss was shot with a handgun on the sidewalk outside the bar on Wall Street.

Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels has said Wyss did not instigate or participate in the bar fight.

Investigators believe the fight occurred after Caleb Cegers and Sadie Madalyn Cole were asked to leave the bar because they were being disruptive, Gunnels has said.

Cole, 21, of Bend, who authorities believe was dating Cegers, was also arrested by Bend Police in connection with the shooting. She could face charges for allegedly assaulting a bartender during the fight and helping Cegers leave the scene in a car, police said.

In 2017, Dahnte Cegers pleaded no contest and was convicted of felony charges of second-degree burglary and third-degree assault, according to court records.

Two years later, Dahnte Cegers, then 21, was accused of pointing a handgun at a 19-year-old man during a dispute at a home on Brentwood Avenue, according to news reports.

He later pleaded no contest for conspiracy to commit a class A misdemeanor, according to court records.