![]() Sawyer’s family sued Central Oregon Community College (COCC) in July 2017, stating that Sawyer accepted a ride from Lara, who was on duty, because she believed she could trust the campus security officer. Sawyer’s Family Sued the College After Her Death & a New State Law Was Passed Regarding Campus Security Lara pleaded guilty to the federal carjacking and kidnapping charges, and in April of 2019, he received a second life sentence. As for the crime spree Lara embarked on after killing Sawyer, a federal grand jury in Eugene, Oregon, charged him with “one count each of kidnapping and carjacking, and two counts of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence,” according to the U.S. Hummel said they’re main goal was to get a life sentence so they decided with the family to not pursue a sexual assault conviction in order to avoid a less harsh sentence.Īfter entering his guilty plea, Lara was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He also noted that Lara refused to plead guilty to sexual assault as part of his plea deal. … according to Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel, once Lara’s initial confession was thrown out, sexual assault became harder to prove. Investigators found evidence that Lara attempted to rape Sawyer, but sexual assault charges did not stick, as explained in a report by Central Oregon Daily: Lara initially pleaded not guilty but later changed his plea to guilty of aggravated murder and robbery in order to avoid the death sentence, Bend Source reported. The family was later dropped off unharmed, and Lara was arrested after a car chase. The car had three people inside, and Lara forced one of the children to drive the car at gunpoint while the owner of the vehicle was left behind at the gas station and called 911, KGW8 reported. When officers searched the Laras’ home, they found Sawyer’s purse and shoes, a blood-stained rock - later determined to be the murder weapon - and a clump of hair, as well as blood on his work boots, Chilling Crimes wrote.īy that time, Lara was on an interstate crime spree, kidnapping a woman in Salem, Oregon, and bringing her to California, then shooting a man in the stomach at a Yreka, California, Super 8 Motel before stealing a car at a gas station close by. Ponce-Lara reported what her husband told her, providing investigators with a key break in the case. Lara was arrested in northern California while on a crime spree that involved multiple carjackings, a kidnapping and a shooting.Īccording to court documents cited in the KGW8 report, Lara told his wife, Isabel Ponce-Lara - who was a new police officer in Bend - that he’d accidentally hit and killed Sawyer with his patrol car and dumped her body afterward. ![]() ![]() Her family filed a missing persons report with Bend police later that same evening, according to KGW8.īy Tuesday, Lara was in police custody and facing a preliminary murder charge, and Sawyer’s body had been found. on Sunday, July 24, 2016, near her apartment building close to her college campus. Sawyer was last seen shortly after 1 a.m. Sawyer Was Killed Early in the Morning & Lara Was Arrested A Few Days Later Sawyer’s story was the subject of an NBC Dateline episode this month, reigniting interest in the case. Sawyer’s body was found days later off Highway 126 in the Dry Creek area of Redmond, Oregon, and her death was ruled a homicide by blunt force trauma, KATU reported at the time. Kaylee Sawyer, 23, was a Central Oregon Community College student who was murdered by campus security guard Edwin Lara, on July 24, 2016.
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