‘It’s gotten so bad’: Murder victim’s cousin frustrated with investigation

PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) - Sara Manley-Miller has been sent photos and videos of the moment her cousin Christopher Klein was shot and killed on Northeast 122nd Avenue near East Burnside Street on Sept. 11, 2020.

She’s reminded of the closeness of their bond daily and how there’s been no progress in finding whoever did it.

“Just knowing that this person gets to keep creating more memories in their life while he doesn’t and their friends and family don’t either,” Manley-Miller said. “I don’t know how to deal with that.”

Since the day Klein passed away, there’s only been heartbreak and sorrow for his cousin with virtually no updates from the Portland Police Bureau. Manley-Miller said detectives are just overwhelmed with a big increase in homicides in the city.

“There’s just not a lot of time to be spent on any of these murders unless somebody’s willing to come forward or give (themselves) up,” she said.

Manley-Miller has been told by the time a detective gets to work on her cousin’s case, there are also five other homicide cases along with it.

It doesn’t make her feel any safer in her neighborhood near Southeast Powell Boulevard and Southeast 143rd Avenue.

“It’s like Russian Roulette going out here,” she said. “It’s gotten so bad.”

Manley-Miller said she doesn’t feel safe walking outside or driving home from work early in the morning. It’s not how she remembers the city.

“Portland used to be such a beautiful place and it seems like it was so long ago,” she said.

PPB did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this case.

No answers also mean family members like Manley-Miller continue to struggle.

“They say the first year is the hardest after you lose somebody,” she said. “But for me personally, because he hasn’t had any justice, it’s almost been like the second year has been harder. And I feel like if a third year happens where he still doesn’t have justice it’s going to be that much harder until the day that he finally gets his justice.”

Manley-Miller is hoping someone will come forward with information that is valuable to detectives in her cousin’s case. She also hopes the same for so many others in the last two years where there have not been any arrests.

The family is personally offering a $2,500 reward for information that leads to solving the case.

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