Man sentenced to life in prison for stabbing, killing man in Southeast Portland bar

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) – The man responsible for stabbing a man to death at a Southeast Portland bar in 2023 was sentenced to life in prison, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.

Rahnique Usef Jackson, 25, stabbed 32-year-old Colin Smith at the High Dive bar near SE 12th Avenue and Madison Street on July 2, 2023. Officers responding to the bar found Smith dead at the scene.

According to police, Jackson fled the bar and was arrested five days later.

On July 22, a unanimous jury found Jackson guilty of second-degree murder, second-degree bias crime, and unlawful use of a weapon. He will serve 364 days for the bias crime charge with a consecutive life sentence for the remaining two charges—with the possibility for parole after 25 years.

KOIN 6 News spoke with the victim’s family in July 2023 . They said Smith, a server at Ox at the time of his death, had gone to the bar with his coworkers when Jackson began to target and harass someone in his group.

When Smith stepped in, investigators said Jackson responded by stabbing him.

“It was a hate crime,” Smith’s sister, Danielle, told KOIN 6. “She was trans, he [Jackson] didn’t like it, and Colin—defending his friend—was in the way. And that’s what happened. It’s just tragic.”

Court documents detailed that Jackson had been loud and combative toward other patrons, with multiple customers telling him to leave.

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