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The accomplice who lured a Portland 18-year-old to his death during a
botched predawn robbery in the parking lot of Gilbert Heights Elementary
School has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison.
Winkel Walter, now 20, texted and called the victim, Donavinh Saelee,
about an hour before the Southeast Portland shooting, asking Saelee to
pick him up, according to a bail memo written by Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Aileen Santoyo.
Surveillance footage from the school’s parking lot showed Saelee and four others arrive in Saelee’s girlfriend’s sedan at 4:19 a.m. Aug. 7, 2021,
the memo said. Saelee had borrowed the car that night, according to the
memo.
Moments later, as the group got out of the car, Zackery Retonong fatally
shot Saelee in the back of the neck, torso and arm, according to the memo. Retonong was sentenced to 20 years in state prison in November.
Walter, who grabbed Saelee’s wallet off his body before the group fled in
the car, apologized in court Wednesday as he was sentenced for pleading
guilty to second-degree manslaughter and first-degree robbery under the
terms of a plea deal.
“I know nothing I can say or do can bring him back,” Walter said. “It was
never my intention for anyone to die.”
The other two people who fled haven’t been charged or publicly identified.
Investigators found the Honda Civic used in the crime burned out and
dumped in Salem, where Walter lived.
Susan Zook, a family friend, recalled holidays and camping trips shared
with Saelee, who called her “grandma.”
“You don’t have to be blood to be a relative, and you don’t have to be
blood to love someone,” she told Walter. “You’ve facilitated a broken
heart.”
—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The
Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083,
https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2024/03/accomplice-in-fatal-robbery-gone- wrong-outside-portland-elementary-school-gets-10-years.html
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