Omar Mohammed Osman pleaded not guilty Friday of first and second degree murder, among other charges. The 18-year-old is accused of fatally shooting two high school students and a 20-year-old man as the three rode together in a car in North Portland last year. June 21, 2024

Althea Sails spoke to the court at the arraignment of Omar Mohammed. Sails’ grandson is Patrick Johnson. Johnson would have been 22 today. June 21, 2024

Alphonsine Vinicius addressed the court at the arraignment of Omar Mohammed. Vinicius’s grandson is 19-year-old Babu Daudi. Daudi was a senior at Roosevelt High School at the time of his death. June 21, 2024

Omar Mohammed Osman pleaded not guilty Friday of first and second degree murder, among other charges. The 18-year-old is accused of fatally shooting two high school students and a 20-year-old man as the three rode together in a car in North Portland last year. June 21, 2024

Omar Mohammed Osman pleaded not guilty Friday of first and second degree murder, among other charges. The 18-year-old is accused of fatally shooting two high school students and a 20-year-old man as the three rode together in a car in North Portland last year. June 21, 2024

Althea Sails spoke to the court at the arraignment of Omar Mohammed. Sails’ grandson is Patrick Johnson. Johnson would have been 22 today. June 21, 2024

Judge Eric Dahlin presided over the arraignment Friday afternoon of Omar Mohammed Osman, who pleaded not guilty to first and second degree murder, among other charges.

Omar Mohammed Osman pleaded not guilty Friday of first and second degree murder, among other charges. The 18-year-old is accused of fatally shooting two high school students and a 20-year-old man as the three rode together in a car in North Portland last year. June 21, 2024

Omar Mohammed Osman pleaded not guilty Friday of first and second degree murder, among other charges. The 18-year-old is accused of fatally shooting two high school students and a 20-year-old man as the three rode together in a car in North Portland last year. June 21, 2024

Omar Mohammed Osman pleaded not guilty Friday of first and second degree murder, among other charges. The 18-year-old is accused of fatally shooting two high school students and a 20-year-old man as the three rode together in a car in North Portland last year. June 21, 2024

Omar Mohammed Osman pleaded not guilty Friday of first and second degree murder, among other charges. The 18-year-old is accused of fatally shooting two high school students and a 20-year-old man as the three rode together in a car in North Portland last year. June 21, 2024

Althea Sails spoke to the court at the arraignment of Omar Mohammed. Sails’ grandson is Patrick Johnson. Johnson would have been 22 today. June 21, 2024

Omar Mohammed Osman pleaded not guilty Friday of first and second degree murder, among other charges. The 18-year-old is accused of fatally shooting two high school students and a 20-year-old man as the three rode together in a car in North Portland last year. June 21, 2024

Alphonsine Vinicius addressed the court at the arraignment of Omar Mohammed. Vinicius’s grandson is 19-year-old Babu Daudi. Daudi was a senior at Roosevelt High School at the time of his death. June 21, 2024

Omar Mohammed Osman pleaded not guilty Friday of first and second degree murder, among other charges. The 18-year-old is accused of fatally shooting two high school students and a 20-year-old man as the three rode together in a car in North Portland last year. June 21, 2024

Judge Eric Dahlin presided over the arraignment Friday afternoon of Omar Mohammed Osman, who pleaded not guilty to first and second degree murder, among other charges. June 21, 2024

Three shooters fired more than 50 rounds into a passing car in an execution-style ambush that killed two high school students and another young man as the three drove next to a North Portland park last year, prosecutors said in court papers made public Friday.

The victims — a 17-year-old Franklin High student, a 19-year-old Roosevelt High student and a 20-year-old man — were each struck multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene in one of the most violent episodes in recent city history.

Though the attack was captured by a Ring camera, the shooters were wearing hoods over their heads and face masks, court papers say. And Friday, the first and only suspect to be charged appeared in Multnomah County Circuit Court to hear the allegations against him.

Omar Osman, who was 17 at the time of the March 2023 shooting, pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of first- and second-degree murder in the killing of Eskender Tamra, a junior at Franklin; 19-year-old Babu Daudi, a senior at Roosevelt; and 20-year-old Patrick Johnson Jr.

The three were traveling together in a car next to University Park. The shooting happened during the noon hour on the first day of spring break.

Osman also entered not guilty pleas to charges of unlawful use of a weapon, recklessly endangering the lives of at least half a dozen other people and animal abuse for allegedly killing a bird in front of a child.

Now 18, he stood silently behind a protective glass barrier as the mother of one of the victims and the grandmother of another of the victims stood up in court searching for answers.

Babu Daudi, 19, (left) and Eskender Tamra, 17, were killed with a third man, Patrick D. Johnson Jr., 20, in a shooting Saturday, March 25, 2023, in North Portland. All were found dead in a car, police said. A doorbell video showed three assailants opening fire on the car.

Clutching a wad of tissue, Alphonsine Vinicius, spoke through an interpreter as she wondered aloud why anyone would want to kill her son, Daudi.

Althea Sails, the grandmother of Johnson, cried as she noted that this first court appearance fell on her grandson’s birthday.

“He would have been 22, a baby,” Sails said. “...Our hearts are broken.”

Sails worried about whether the other two alleged shooters will be charged.

Referring to Daudi’s mother, she said: “Just like this woman who is asking ‘Why, why, why?’ it doesn’t make any sense. And whatever has to happen to restore peace and order, I beg the court to make that happen.”

Sails pleaded with Osman to leave guns and violence behind as she appeared to refer to his race and that of the three victims.

“For the young men who hear my voice and cannot step away from violence, find Christ,” Sails said. “We don’t need this Black-on-Black violence. It’s telling the world negative things.”

Osman appeared to be listening, but he didn’t speak or show any emotion.

He had been held at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility. Police wouldn’t say why he was there, but that it was for reasons unrelated to the triple killing. Osman was transferred to Multnomah County on Thursday for the arraignment hearing Friday.

He was assigned a court-appointed attorney, Stephen Eberlein, in this case. Eberlein didn’t immediately return a request for comment. Osman’s next court date is scheduled for July 12. He remains in Multnomah County jail with no bail.

— Aimee Green covers breaking news and the justice system. Reach her at 503-294-5119, agreen@oregonian.com or @o_aimee.

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Stories by Aimee Green

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