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After two bodies were found near Oakridge, detectives charged three teenagers. A SWAT team arrested two of them a couple of blocks from the Hosea Youth Services center and another in West Eugene. The suspects were clients at Hosea, a director said during the organization’s annual fundraising breakfast on Thursday.
Clarification: While some Hosea Youth Services staff has referred to the people they serve as clients, the executive director has clarified that the terminology they use is guests.
Lane County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested three Eugene teenagers Wednesday on murder and related charges after the bodies of an adult man and teenage girl were found southwest of Oakridge the day before.
In a press release posted to Facebook, the sheriff’s office said detectives arrested a 16-year-old boy on two counts of first-degree murder and a 15-year-old girl on one count of first-degree murder. Both were also charged with two counts of second-degree abuse of a corpse. Because two are younger than 18 years old, authorities did not immediately release their names.
They also arrested 19-year-old Hunter Jesse Kip Barnett. The Lane County District Attorney’s office charged Barnett with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree abuse of a corpse.
Court records state that alleged actions happened on or around May 17.
The two juveniles are in the Lane County Youth Services detention facility, and Barnett is in the Lane County Jail.
Miles Pendleton, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office, declined to say whether the office has charged the juveniles, saying the case is still an active, ongoing investigation.
The names of the victims were not immediately released.
Barnett, the adult defendant in the case, appeared for an arraignment Thursday in Lane County Circuit Court. He spoke to Circuit Judge Beatrice Grace from the jail through a video monitor, as is standard practice.
“Yes ma’am,” Barnett responded when the judge asked him if he understood his rights.
Grace said Barnett is eligible for a public defender to represent him in the case. He did not enter a plea. Grace told him he is ineligible for release at this time.
His next court date is June 26 for a status check.
Barnett was a client of Hosea Youth Services, a nonprofit that helps young people who are experiencing homelessness. The two younger teenagers also may be guests of the center, Hosea leadership said.
A SWAT team was dispatched to Hosea Wednesday and arrested one of the younger teenagers and Barnett at Seventh Avenue and Monroe Street, a couple of blocks away.
Police arrested the second young teen at a residence on Irving Road in West Eugene.
Hosea Youth Services reaction
Staff and supporters of Hosea Youth Services were at the organization’s yearly fundraising breakfast Thursday morning when they learned the deaths may be connected to their clientele.
Joe Clig, the resource center director for the organization, was making a presentation about his work and said he had received a text message that the two victims may also have received services from the organization.
Clig, who once experienced addiction and homelessness himself, was emotional, saying it’s not the first time guests have lost their lives. He works directly with youth, some of whom told their own stories through a documentary played during the event.
The young people in the video spoke of generational poverty, addiction, and the challenge of breaking those cycles. During closing remarks at the breakfast, Hosea Youth Services Executive Director Brad Bills gave a candid assessment of outcomes: a third of their guests are trying, a third are stuck, and a third, he said, won’t make it.
Bills also spoke to the crowd about the news, reflecting on how the case reflects systemic issues in society: “It was very sad, but it’s the reality of the world we live in — the culture of things going on, and the neighborhood and the work that we’re doing,” he said.
Lookout Eugene-Springfield talked to Bills after the breakfast, and he said he could not offer much comment until he learns more about what happened.
Hosea Youth Services has been providing food, clothing, and shelter for three decades for young people without homes in Eugene and Springfield. It also provides mental health counseling.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the location where Hunter Jesse Kip Barnett and one of the younger teens were arrested. Barnett and one juvenile were arrested at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Monroe Street, the other juvenile was arrested on Irving Road.
