Man indicted in racially charged fatal Portland train stabbings

An Oregon grand jury returned an indictment on Tuesday against a man who was arrested in the racially charged stabbings of three men, two of them fatal, aboard a Portland commuter train more than a week ago, court records showed.

The suspect, Jeremy Christian, 35, was previously charged in a criminal complaint with nine felony counts stemming from the May 26 incident, in which he is accused of yelling racial and ethnic slurs at two African-American teenage girls, one wearing a Muslim head scarf, then attacking three fellow passengers who intervened.

• Anti-Muslim slurs lead to triple stabbing on Portland train

Ricky John Best, 53, of Happy Valley, Ore., died at the sceneand 23-year oldTaliesinMyrddinNamkaiMecheof Portland died at a hospital.MicahDavid-Cole Fletcher, 21, of Portland was also stabbed in the attack.

Portland's Oregonian newspaper reported the indictment charges Christian with 15 counts in all, including two counts of murder.

Oregon train stabbing suspect makes defiant court appearance

7 years ago

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Jeremy Christian charged with aggravated murder and other crimes

Reuters was unable to immediately obtain a copy of the indictment itself, and the prosecutor's office declined to give any further details.

Dyjuana Hudson, the mother of one of the girls harassed, told The Oregonian her 16-year-old daughter, who is black, boarded the train with a Muslim friend, also a teenager, who was wearing a hijab.

Christianapproached the girls while screaming at them, Hudson told the newspaper, relaying an account her daughter had given her.

"He was saying that Muslims should die," Hudson said.