Bennette's lawyers knew where Yashanee's body was for months
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PORTLAND, Ore. - The family of a teenage girl who was murdered is outraged after learning that the suspect's lawyers knew for months where her body was but kept the information to themselves in the hopes of striking a deal.
"I'm pretty sure they've got kids," said Shaquita Louis, the victim's mother. "Would they want somebody to do that to their kids? Not say nothing and let their child decay like that?"
A defense lawyer made the statement in court on Thursday when 17-year-old Parrish Bennette pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter with a firearm in the death of 14-year-old Yashanee Vaughn.
"That decision was made in accordance with our sworn duty to zealously defend and represent Mr. Bennette," attorney Thomas MacNair told the court. "We want the family to understand that was not Mr. Bennette's decision and we ask the family to accept our sympathy and regret."
Sources tell KATU that Bennette's lawyers originally approached law enforcement with an offer to disclose where the body was in return for a deal involving leniency. Law enforcement refused to deal at that point and three months later, when Bennette's lawyers realized a deal was not going to happen, they finally decided to disclose where the body was.
The information fell under attorney-client privilege but the news was particularly upsetting for Vaughn's family, who had agonized over what happened to the young girl when she disappeared and spent countless hours searching for her.
"She lay in two feet of dirt, decomposing, and they knew where she was and wouldn't tell us? That is sick. That is inhumane," said Marsha Hayes, the victim's great aunt.
"I went through hell," Hayes added. "I woke up in the middle of the night screaming, having visions and panic attacks about where she could be, what might have happened to her. And the whole time the defense knew where she was and they wouldn't tell us? That is not OK."
Bennette's guilty plea was part of an offer that was put before him earlier this week. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison and under the terms of the offer, he will have no chance for parole or early release and no time off for good behavior. After he is released from prison, he will be required to be under supervision for two years.
The sentence was little comfort to the victim's mother.
"Eighteen years - that's not enough for me," Louis said. "When he gets out he'll be 30-something. He'll be able to touch his daughter. I can't touch mine."
"I would rather he had life," she added. "It still wouldn't bring my daughter back, but I would know that he would not be able to touch his."
Shaquita Louis, mother of Yashanee Vaughn, cries outside the courthouse at the plea and sentencing hearing for Parrish Bennette Jr., 17, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013 in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/The Oregonian, Bruce Ely, Pool)
Background
Yashanee Vaughn disappeared in March 2011 and for several months no one knew where she was. Police had reason to believe she had met with foul play but their prime suspect, Parrish Bennette (who was 16-years old at the time), was not talking.
Bennette was the last person to see Vaughn alive and was indicted on murder charges early on in the investigation after detectives found evidence that pools of blood had soaked through the carpet in his bedroom. Isopropyl and bleach were found as well and fluid inside a vacuum in the home had traces of blood. A picture of the teenage boy holding a gun the day before Vaughn disappeared also surfaced.
Despite the mounting evidence against him, and pleas from Vaughn's family to tell them what happened to her, Bennette kept quiet.
Searches continued and the girl's family kept the case in the public eye by holding rallies, passing out missing person fliers and keeping Vaughn's name in the media. The girl's family and friends hoped to find her alive, even though deep in their hearts they felt something terrible had happened to her.
On July 15, 2011, their fears were confirmed when police found Vaughn's remains buried along a trail at Rocky Butte in Northeast Portland. Although no plea deal was reached, Bennette had finally opened up and told the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office where searchers should look.
Two weeks later, Vaughn was laid to rest at a memorial where family and friends gathered to celebrate her short life. And Bennette remained in jail, awaiting trial.
Case Timeline
- March 19, 2011 - Yashanee Vaughn disappears after meeting Parrish Bennette at a Taco Bell on Northeast 82nd Avenue.
- March 21, 2011 - Yashanee's mother, Shaquita Louis, files a missing persons report.
- Sunday, March 27 - Detectives receive information that Bennette admitted to his father that his gun "went off" and hit Yashanee, and that he then disposed of the body. Bennette denies everything when questioned by detectives.
- March 28, 2011 - Bennette's home and his grandparents' home are searched. Detectives notice the floor in Bennette's bedroom has been recently cleaned and there is a steam carpet cleaner there as well. Police notice a slight discoloration in the bedroom carpet and when they pull it up, they find blood soaked in the carpet pad through to the wooden sub floor. Blood is also found on the mattress, walls, near a desk, in the catch basin of the steam cleaner and on some clothing. DNA testing finds it is the blood of Yashanee Vaughn.
- March 31, 2011 - Bennette is arrested.
- April 8, 2011 - Bennette is indicted for murder.
- June 6, 2011 - Detectives recover the gun they believe was used in the murder of Yashanee Vaughn.
- June 24, 2011 - Police outline the evidence against Bennette at a bail hearing, including the blood found in his bedroom and a picture of Bennette holding a gun the day before Vaughn disappeared.
- July 7, 2011 - Judge denies bail for Bennette.
- July 15, 2011 - Police announce they have found human remains at Rocky Butte. The remains are not positively identified as those of Yashanee Vaughn but the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office says Bennette gave them information to lead them to Vaughn's body.
- July 19, 2011 - Police confirm that the remains found at Rocky Butte are those of Yashanee Vaughn.
- July 30, 2011 - Friends and family hold a memorial service for Yashanee Vaughn to lay her to rest.
- December 9, 2012 - Parrish Bennette Jr. is charged with assaulting a corrections officer after officials say he refused to go back to his cell and then attacked a guard.
- January 17, 2013 - Parrish Bennette Jr. pleads guilty to murdering Yashanee Vaughn and is sentenced to 18 years in prison.
For all of you commenting on here about how these lawyers need to be disbarred...get your facts straight. What they did was perfectly legal although morally repugnant. If these defense lawyers would have given up the location of her body they could have been disbarred for it. Now if this was a case involving a kidnapping this would have been a different story but since the prosecution had sufficient evidence to charge the young man with murder they did not need the body. Please feel free if you have experience in this field and correct me if I am wrong. Â
Any similarities between true justice and man made law are indeed, purely coincidental.
That is callous and sick.  Yet, I think.. thats a lawyer.Â
This is why keep complaining that we are way to soft on criminals. Sentences are too lenient, the ACLU would have cable TV with CNN and Jersey Shore running 24/7 if they could. Bring back bread/water and work crews building roads. Or today it would be bicycle paths. This little bast**d should fry, today, not after 25 different taxpayer funded appeals. Â
This is so wrong on so many levels. Victims get victimized over and over, and the perps are handled with "kid gloves".....not cool. Seems to be illegal also (withholding evidence, Class C felony). I hope the courts throw the book at these scumbag lawyers.
But, then again.....what goes around comes around. They'll "get theirs" in the end (pun intended).
 @Blümchen What the defense did was perfectly legal, there was enough evidence found at the crime scene to charge the kid with the murder, the defense was doing what they were hired to do which is defend the defendant. Now if this was a kidnapping and this young girl was assumed to still be alive that would be a different story.Â
I would never be able to sleep at night,if I knew where someone was or where a body was ,and not report it.To be honest,I would not be able to function at all.
 @Jennifer Hamlet That is why you and I are not a scum bag lawyers like this guy...
Keep in mind that if our governor has his way, this would be a maximum sentence for murder. No death penalty, no life sentence, just get them in and get them out.
What is the difference between a Lawyer and a Catfish ?
 One is a Blood sucking bottom dweller and the other is a Fish....
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Q: What's the difference between a lawyer and a leech?
A: After you die, a leech stops sucking your blood.
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Q: How does an attorney sleep?
A: First he lies on one side, then he lies on the other.
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When a person assists a criminal in breaking the law before the criminal gets arrested, we call him an accomplice. When a person assists a criminal in breaking the law after the criminal gets arrested, we call him a defense lawyer.
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 What's the difference between prosecutors and terrorists?
 You can negotiate with terrorists.
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 @Glenn Pierce Thanks needed some humor today after the blood sucking president extended his grip around my privates this week and started squeezing...
Oh really , what did the prez exactly do to "grip your privates" ??
This horrific revelation by the defense lawyers make me physically sick to my stomach and clearly shows how mis-guided these lawyers are! What about basic respect for the life of the victim and her families? This was not even up for "choice" and if it is not now , it needs to be foremost that this was not a BODY like livestock recovered. This was a young girl, would they have been ok leaving their child up there after what she had already been thru? What if a hiker stumbled upon her or just as her auntie said in court, "they just left her up there to decay". All she did was go to our local Taco Bell and take a ride with a boy.
Now I have to wonder...does some freakin lawyer know where Kyron is and is just "defending their client?...???
My heart goes out to the family and friends of  Yashanee.
 Plea bargains need to be thrown out the freakin window when it is so clearly evident what happened.Â
 @Jymmi Obviously this is a situation that is way over your head. Was it morally repugnant? Yes! But since it was already known by both sides that the girl had been murdered before her body was located if the lawyers gave up her location they could actually be disbarred for comprising their defendant.Â
This ridiculous. They weren't "zealously defending", they were aiding and abetting. They should be charged as accessories after the fact.
 @Patriot1946 Wrong, it was already a known fact she was murdered and the prosecution would have gotten a conviction with or without the body based on the evidence found at the scene of the crime. Do you honestly think the lawyers did not know what they were doing? Â
Those attorneys will pay.. Karma is so horrible.. I can not believe they can legally get away with that.. Wow.. But you know, life can beach slap you...
 @dougrpdx I wish I believed in that but to many examples of horrible people like say OJ living just fine...
plea bargaining should not be used in cases where proof of the crime is so great ,that no one can deny it maximum sentences should be given in these cases. attorneys that with hold any information  are in contempt for with holding such information. i hope the attorney general looks at this case and the defense lawyers .the information they with held ,could have had some bearing in the trial.
This little turd has a daughter?Â
 @moej You didn't think he could make a son did you ???
I don't know who is the worst scum in this case - the murderer or his attorneys. I think it's about equal.Â
 @The Voice of Reason I think the lawyers are.  To have this information and not divulge it is criminal.  They could have helped the family have closure and not go through further deliberate pain. This type of bargaining should be reprimanded.  There is NO excuse for this.
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Really hits home further when you know Terry Horman's lawyers probably have all the assorted details and are not sharing it. They also want a plea bargain of some sort. I feel that Kaine Horman's best shot to keep his daughter safe from visiting Terry is unfortunately to let it drag out.
 @my2cents  @The Voice of Reason Wrong, what they did was perfectly legal and actually could have been disbarred if they were to give up the location of the body.Â
"...Bennette's lawyers originally approached law enforcement with an offer to disclose where the body was in return for a deal involving leniency. Law enforcement refused to deal at that point and three months later, when Bennette's lawyers realized a deal was not going to happen, they finally decided to disclose where the body was...."
 Wow. This is extortion if you ask me! Holding a dead body for ransom, basically. These lawyers should be sued or disbarred or something because they went over the line and  knowingly allowed the ongoing desecration of a corpse by allowing it to decompose for months when it could have been recovered rapidly for a decent funeral and burial while still reasonably intact. I am appalled. It harms the family with undue pressure and threat by holding the body away from them, for legal bullying/bargaining.  These lawyers KNEW their client was guilty and had committed the crime so how is it that they are not guilty themselves of conspiracy to abuse a corpse and traumatize a family? Horrible  sociopathic lawyers, these guys. There is a special place in hell for this behavior, I am sure. That...and ugly karma rearing it's head.  How do they even look at themselves in the mirror or try to sleep at night? I hope they are both disturbed with dreams of corpses until they apologize for this. Shame on them!
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 @whirledworld Lawyers could have been disbarred if they gave up the location, they are defense lawyers and their first job is to protect their defendant.  The prosecution already had a case from the evidence recovered at the original crime scene.  Try researching a topic more thoroughly before posting inaccurate comments next time. Â
 @whirledworld What's interesting, is that LE knew that he was offering to reveal the location in exchange for a plea deal, and didn't ask the family what they would want in such a situation. I have to think that if this was a law-abiding, white suburban family, they would have been right there to help make that decision. What does LE have to say about their decision to refuse the offer?
@badcat
You understand that the plea negotiation would not occur with the PPB but with the DA right?
Police investigate, search, and arrest. The DA is the 'law enforcement' the article is referring to.
The racism accusation is flat out nonsensical.
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 @badcat I agree with you about that surmising. PPB has some real issues about decisions they have been known to make. One word: Dysfunctional.
 Shaquita did fail her daughter as a parent. I witness this woman passing out flyers at the mall that Spring with her friends while shoplifting. Its sad this girl lost her life. I mean who let's the 14 year old go to a boy's house & not report her missing for 2 days? Then there is the son with the gun. Check out Shaquita's Facebook page. She post pictures of her daughter giving the middle finger. Who does that? I am not trying to bash her but let's look at the environment she was raised in. I mean they basically gave her a gangsta blood funeral. It is all just a sad situation. I am surprised that lawyers withheld that info though, it does sound unethical.
 @AOne They were wearing their gansta blood colors again at the hearing today. No shame, no respect, haven't learned a thing.
 @badcat WTH are you blabbing about? Watch the tape, they all have different colored shirts on. Yashanee's mother had a red jacket on, is that what you mean? Everyone else was wearing blue, black and brown that was with her, so please explain yourself. Perhaps you are simply racist.
 @QuandoQuandoQuando I see red shirts and red hair extensions on her aunt and mother. Not sure who you're looking at, but I see the same "Yashawnee's color, red" that they were proudly displaying at all the rallies.
 @badcat  @AOne  If this is so, then they seem to be deeply, toxicly  entrenched and  cannot think beyond this mentality of gangbangin' which they have mistaken for cultural identity and self-identity.Â
 @QuandoQuandoQuando Right, because her mother didn't tell everyone to wear red to all the rallies and memorial services, and she wasn't wearing red again today. Sure.
 @whirledworld  @badcat  @AOne Except it is not so, badcat is lying through his/her bad teeth.
 @badcat Like being stuck in junior-high and never looking up to see the Real World, let alone  stand up and step in to participate in it.
 @badcat Yes, it is sad, and keeps them from advocating for a better life in the areas they actually are repressed or dienfranchised.
 @whirledworld Well put. And it's very sad.
 @AOne This news story is not about the young woman's mother. It's about the slimey  unethical lawyers who held a victim's corpse for ransom for a LONG TIME not allowing a decent funeral /burial and twisting the family around like a painful pretzel.
 @AOne Yeah, you are trying to bash her, and it's really ugly.
I think what people are trying to point out, and you fail to see, is that the gangsta lifestyle will lead you to a world of crime, frequent shootings and death, and for mom to embrace this lifestyle for herself and her kids had led her to where she is today, without her child. There is no happy ending when you live in and among gangs. The pattern will repeat itself over and over again until parents become parents and make the tough decisions to build a better life for themselves and their kids. Does mom and the family have any responsibility? Of course they do. This is the life they have chosen, and it comes with violence and heartache.
@QuandoQuandoQuando @AOne I bet @aone calls themself a Christian, and I'll guarantee you Christ would be mighty ashamed of judgement like that
 @QuandoQuandoQuando Well whatever! Its the truth!
Thomas MacNair: "We want the family to understand that it was not Mr. Bennette's decision, and we would ask the family to accept our sympathies and our regret..."
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OH - You have some major kahones, Mr. MacNair! I'll be surprised if the AG is not on your case after this one!
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I smell a MAJOR civil case coming up!!!
 @washcomom Not likely, what this defense did was perfectly legal and within the confines of the law.Â
@washcomom Cajones dear, cajones!
 @I812 Thanks! I saw red, and didn't spell correctly. This makes my blood boil to think that they put the family through such grief when they knew the information all along. How dare they! They are the ones that should be paying for the search, and they are the ones that will pay with this blood on their hands.Â
@washcomom a civil case for what? For the defense upholding their sworn duty to defend their client?
 @pdxd A civil case is different from this case, as they can go after pain and suffering damages. And I hope the lawyers who withheld this evidence are feeling the sting from such hurt that they caused. That's just a wicked practice.
 @washcomom How dare they even have the chutzpah to ask for forgiveness of this unforgiveable act against all that is decent...and in the media to boot? Complete bastar*s!!