Police arrest 2 in Pierce County in connection to murder of Portland woman, shooting

Two suspects in a Portland shooting that left a 26-year-old woman dead and two others injured have been arrested in Pierce County, police said Thursday.

William A. Watson, 32, and Candice M. Hicks, 34, were arrested in connection to the Oct. 15, 2023, murder of Cali M. Durbin, the Portland Police Bureau said. Both remain in custody at the Pierce County Jail, records show, where they are awaiting extradition to Oregon.

Watson was booked into jail Saturday, and Hicks was booked Monday.

Police said the suspects were arrested by their detectives with assistance from U.S. Marshals and members of the Criminal Investigations Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. A spokesperson for the base said Watson was not a military service member.

Durbin and two other people were found shot around 4:08 a.m. in Southeast Portland after officers responded for reports of a shooting at the intersection of Southeast Foster Road and Southeast 86th Avenue, according to police. Durbin was pronounced dead at the scene, and the two others were transported to an area hospital with life-threatening gunshot wounds.

Watson was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder, two counts of second-degree attempted murder, two counts second-degree assault, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of felon in possession of a firearm.

According to Pierce County Superior Court records, Watson reported to pretrial services that he has lived on JBLM for the past two years in the 5100 block of Nevada Avenue. Records show he has criminal history in San Diego and Kansas. He was convicted in 2011 in San Diego of sexually annoying or molesting a child, and he was convicted in 2014 in Junction City, Kansas, of criminal possession of a weapon by a felon.

Hicks was arrested on suspicion of second-degree attempted murder and unlawful use of a weapon. Pierce County court records show that she reported living at an address on Village Green Loop in Steilacoom for the past eight months. Police reported that she was from Covington. She has no prior criminal convictions.