Jessica Prokop

Local news editor @thecolumbian SW Washington's largest daily newspaper | Alum @LinfieldCollege | Formerly @nrtoday | [email protected]

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

“We want the community to know we haven’t given up on this, and we mainly want Forrest to know we haven’t given up on this — and won’t,” #ClarkWa cold-case investigator Doug Maas said. “As long as I stay vertical, I’m going to stay on this one.” https://t.co/hAKnlcovt8

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

Camas PD booked Patrick Wetzel, 41, on suspicion of burglary-1, unlawful firearm possession-2, reckless endangerment, aiming/discharging a firearm & dv no-contact order violation. Jail records show Wetzel was also booked on warrants from municipal court. https://t.co/QN4OcpnISZ

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

Neighbor Ashleigh Valenzuela said she put her children to bed shortly before she heard the first gunshot. Initially, she didn’t know what to make of the gunshots … but as she heard more gunshots and saw police begin to arrive, she knew it was serious. https://t.co/IMpCpDgs9p

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

ICYMI: Kirkland Warren’s trial was set to begin Monday in #ClarkWA Superior Court. Instead, he pleaded guilty to murder-2 and aggravated murder-1 in the deaths of his ex-girlfriend, Meshay Melendez, 27, and her daughter, Layla Stewart, 7, respectively. https://t.co/uObCyujvxy

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

ICYMI: Washington’s felony drug endangerment law doesn’t include the pervasive and deadly drug fentanyl. #ClarkWa officials are again pushing lawmakers to fix that. But opponents argue expanding the law would further criminalize substance use disorders. https://t.co/DdSfh1S5qM

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

Carissa Larkin feared for her life after obtaining a civil dv protection order against her former fiance. On July 25, he shot her to death, then himself. Even though the order prohibited him from having firearms, the court never demanded he surrender them. https://t.co/tbVvGmhNqL

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

“Meshay loved Layla with all her life. There’s nothing she wouldn’t do for her,” said Michelle Bart, president and founder of the National Women’s Coalition Against Violence & Exploitation. https://t.co/XhFLcn3wpK

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

The following info comes from records filed in #ClarkWa Superior/District Courts and Jefferson County Circuit Court in Arkansas, as well as police news releases. None of the allegations or charges have been proven in a court of law; all cases are pending. https://t.co/XowNw5KdP9

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

“But I will also say #ClarkWa has done an exemplary job of putting the Tiffany Hill law into action on behalf of domestic-violence victims, and I am not going to rush to judgment about what prosecutors did or did not do,” Wilson said.

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

As the prime sponsor of the legislation that eventually became the Tiffany Hill Act, I have questions about the Melendez case,” Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, said in an emailed statement Thursday. https://t.co/GJxcmGu8Xq @brobbinsuo

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

“That was the hardest for me, hearing her testimony that she stayed up all night, hopping post to post, trying to get free,” Juror 7 said, before Forrest was sentenced Friday to a maximum term of life in prison for the 1974 murder of 17-year-old Martha Morrison.

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

“You cannot undo the past, but you have the power to let those families find some peace,” the victim’s brother, Michael Morrison, said at Forrest’s sentencing in #ClarkWa Superior Court. Despite his and the prosecution’s urging, Forrest declined to speak. https://t.co/4u1YhzsAK8

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

“That first day of trial was hard,” Juror 7 said, referring to testimony from Norma Countryman Lewis, who detailed how she escaped after Forrest abducted her near Ridgefield and left her tied up at Tukes Mountain in July 1974. https://t.co/IYCD0ye4vJ

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

Morrison’s brother, Michael, urged Forrest to come clean about the other women and girls he’s suspected of abducting and killing.

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

We’re in #ClarkWa Superior Court for serial killer Warren Forrest’s sentencing for the 1974 murder of 17-year-old Martha Morrison of Portland. He’s appearing via Zoom.

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

Norma Countryman Lewis said for her it’s that Warren Forrest can “firmly go down in history as a serial killer, instead of an alleged or suspected serial killer. Hopefully, he will no longer be Washington’s forgotten serial killer.” https://t.co/K16oaPcdBU

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

@maas_doug Can I quote you on that?

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

Most of the witnesses were from Bode Technology, a private DNA laboratory in Virginia, and the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification, a national resource for the identification of missing and unidentified individuals. https://t.co/IMnvvtHqPq

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

This story will be updated later tonight, with reactions from Martha Morrison’s brother and one of Forrest’s surviving victims, as well as the sister of one of Forrest’s suspected victims. https://t.co/lyVHkbDx6n

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

After deliberating for 1.5 hours, the jury has found Warren Forrest guilty of first-degree murder in Martha Morrison’s 1974 slaying.

[Jessica Prokop @JProkop16]

The jury has a verdict!