PORTLAND, OR – A 28-year-old man was sentenced for fatally shooting a stranger during a drum circle nearly three years ago.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office reported that on June 9, a judge sentenced Wyatt Belcher to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. A jury previously convicted him of second-degree murder with a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon in connection with Ash Smith’s death.
On the night of May 8, 2022, Portland Police received a report that a woman had been shot. Witnesses reportedly told authorities that as people were packing up after a drum circle, they “heard a loud bang.”
According to prosecutors, one witness “thought it was a fireworks show” before noticing Smith fall to the ground. Belcher allegedly walked away, then returned with a gun in his hand. A witness claimed Belcher “asked if the woman was dead” and “then asked the witness if he wanted to be shot as well” before walking away.
Smith, according to family members, was a mother who was homeless at the time of her death. Belcher reportedly did not know Smith.
