Offer part of new effort to stem gun violence
By Michael Leighton
Evelin Navarro Barajas, 23, was killed June 18 in a northeast Portland shooting.
In an effort to stem gun violence in the Portland area, the FBI on Wednesday announced that a reward of up to $15,000 was being offered for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of those responsible for the shooting death of a 23-year-old Portland woman.
Evelin Navarro-Barajas, 23, was killed June 18 while gathered with a group of friends that included children in a parking lot in the 6700 block of Northeast Killingsworth Street. A friend was also shot and survived.
Police said the shooting happened just before midnight when a vehicle stopped on the street near the parking lot. A suspect or suspects exited the vehicle and fired multiple shots at the group.
A family photo from 2019 shows Evelin Navarro-Barajas enjoying a day at the beach.
The evidence suggests this was a gang-motivated shooting, however, there is no indication that Navaaro-Barjas and her friends were gang-affiliated, authorities said.
The FBI reward, in addition a CrimeStoppers reward of up to $2,500 that was previously offered, was made possible as part of a Metro Safe Streets Task Force’s effort to stem violence in the region and to remove illegal guns from the streets, officials said.
The FBI, ATF, Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, and the Gresham Police Department are the investigating agencies that make up the Safe Streets Task Force.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office are the prosecutorial partners who support the task force’s work.
Anyone with information about the Navarro-Barajas homicide or any other shooting should contact the FBI in Portland at (503) 224-4181, at (800) CALL-FBI or at tips.fbi.gov. Tips may also be submitted to CrimeStoppers at www.crimestoppersoforegon.com.