UPDATED September 12, 2019
The Portland community mourns the death of 19-year-old Portland State student Logan Nettleton, who was fatally shot inside her home at 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 30 near Powell Butte. Nettleton is the third PSU student to lose their life to gun violence this summer.
Police officers responded to gunshot reports at around 3:30 a.m. on Friday Aug. 30 around 174th Ave. and Powell Blvd. Nettleton was then found dead inside of her home along with her boyfriend—identified by Nettleton’s family members—who was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries where he remains in critical condition.
The Multnomah County Medical Examiner ruled Nettleton’s death a homicide from gunshot wounds. The suspect or suspects remain at large, and an investigation is ongoing. The motive for the shooting is unknown at this time.
A young child, who was identified as Nettleton’s boyfriend’s son, was also present at the scene but was not harmed.
Nettleton is survived by her 4-year-old son, King, who is now in the care of family members. According to Nettleton’s mother Mya Chamberlin, who spoke with OregonLive, Nettleton was a compassionate and deeply caring mother of her young special-needs son.
“She’s been surging through the trauma, trauma that grown adults twice her age fight like hell to work through,” Chamberlin told OregonLive. “And she was doing it as a child herself. The reality is, we were just getting to know Logan as an adult.”
Nettleton, a Portland native, was studying Criminal, Race and Social Justice at PSU and was a passionate social justice advocate, a family member told OregonLive. She attended Madison Highschool, where she “was a straight ‘A’ student, an elite athlete and an extraordinary mom,” Chamberlin told KGW.
Brian C. Renauer, a criminology professor at PSU who taught Nettleton in the fall of 2018, said, “She came up and introduced herself and said it was her first quarter; she said she was a little nervous, but she was a super engaged student, always participated in class, and she really crushed it. She was an amazing student.”
“Her death is really, really tragic,” he said.
Executive Director of the Mother and Child Education Center in Portland Maria White, who knew Nettleton since she was 15 years old, told KGW, “Logan was smart, energetic; she did really well in school; she did really well at PSU; she was on a pathway to be the best possible mom; she was going to have a wonderful career; she was just there for everybody.”
“I just ask the community to understand that this was a loving, wonderful mother; a smart young woman, no one deserves this,” White said.
Nettleton’s close friend Emily Sullivan told KATU News that Nettleton aspired to one day be an attorney and that “[Nettleton] wanted to make things right, and she wanted to fight for people who didn’t have a voice.”
“[Her son] is always going to remember his mom being an amazing person,” Sullivan told KATU.The Portland community mourns the death of 19-year-old Portland State student Logan Nettleton, who was fatally shot inside her home at 3:30 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 30 near Powell Butte.
Nettleton, a Portland native, was studying Criminal, Race and Social Justice at PSU and was a passionate social justice advocate, a family member told OregonLive. She is survived by her 4-year-old son, King.
Nettleton’s boyfriend Deon—-whose first name was identified by a family member to OregonLive—-was also shot and rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries where he remains in critical condition. The suspect or suspects remain at large and an investigation is ongoing. The motive for the shooting is unknown at this time.
A young child, who has not been identified and was not harmed, was present at the scene of the crime.
According to Mya Chamberlin, Nettleton’s mother, who spoke with OregonLive, Nettleton was a compassionate and deeply caring mother of her young special-needs son.
“She’s been surging through the trauma, trauma that grown adults twice her age fight like hell to work through. And she was doing it as a child herself,” Chamberlin told OregonLive, “The reality is, we were just getting to know Logan as an adult.”
Anyone who may have any information involving the shooting is asked to contact Detective Rico Beniga: 503-823-0457, [email protected]; or Detective Anthony Merrill: 503-823-4033, [email protected].
