Sister tends to brothers memorial 2 years after unsolved SE Portland murder

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Crystal Major is sharing her story after her brother, Harold Major, was shot and killed more than two years ago.

Despite the passing of time, she says much of the pain remains. That’s especially true with her brother’s killer still on the run.

Harold was experiencing homelessness, something Crystal said she never really understood until one day she sat down and listened.

“I put myself in his shoes,” she said. “It’s not something that he wanted. It’s just something that happened.”

Harold was shot and killed Nov. 7, 2020, and his sister Crystal tends to a memorial she set up across the street on a fence near Cleveland High School on a regular basis.

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She had a tiny library built where she leaves bags full of food and drinks to help those in need. Oftentimes, she runs into people who knew her brother there.

“They ask if they’re a bother and I say, ‘No,’ because it’s not just my brother’s spot.”

Lighting candles and cleaning up are efforts to keep her brother’s memory alive. Something Crystal made sure to do by passing on his name to her own newborn child.

“People said that you’ll see your brother in the baby, and I do. After the baby was born, I cried less and less. Now, I just smile when I think of my brother.”

In his spot, Crystal recalls that her brother was helpful. She says he would clean up trash around the neighborhood. Eventually, she says the homeowners took notice.

“They contacted the trash company,” she recalled, “and had them put a trashcan in front of his tent. Just because he lived in a tent didn’t make him any different than they were.”

She says her brother wasn’t violent, cruel or a criminal. Instead, she says “he was just lost.”

Two days after Harold’s death, her 6-year-old was left with questions there simply aren’t easy answers for.

“He goes, ‘he’s never coming back.’ I said, ‘No, honey. He never is.’”

Now it’s been more than two years.

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Frustrated, she said, “everybody is just out killing each other for no reason.”

Police say Harold was the victim of a random drive-by shooting, and that the suspect still hasn’t been found.

“I often wonder if I know them, if I’ve ran into them, or if they know me. I have nightmares over it because I don’t know who it is.”

Crystal says she just wants answers and believes that the person probably has her brother’s death on their conscience.

On the memorial, there’s a message to the shooter, it reads, “We’ve already forgiven you, as Harold would have.”

She said fighting back tears, that her “brother never help grudges, he loved everybody.”

Crystal has started something called Harold’s Hearts. They do things like adopt people for Christmas, help with birthday parties by donating gifts, give those in need school supplies and all kinds of help in other areas.

She started the organization because they try to lead a life her brother would have.

She hopes someone may have information about her brother’s death and encourages them to reach out to Crime Stoppers.

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