DA, Sawyer family attorney talk after sentencing

After Edwin Lara accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to life in prison Monday for the murder of Kaylee Sawyer, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel met with reporters, also giving the victim’s family and friends an opportunity to learn more about the case.

Hummel began by outlining the entire case and the investigation. He detailed Kaylee Sawyer’s murder, pausing to collect himself as he said, “Her injuries further indicate that she fought for her life. This was an investigation the likes of which Deschutes County has never seen.”

He explained how the investigation started with a missing person case, turning into a case of a murder, a body being moved twice, a kidnapping, an attempted murder, a carjacking and a high-speed chase.

The DA went on to commend and thank everyone involved in investigating the slaying.

Hummel also answered a question about the rumors Edwin Lara, a former campus security officer at Central Oregon Community College, had help moving Sawyer’s body. He said there’s more work to do in that regard.

“That case — I do not consider that case a closed deal,” he said. “We were focusing on making sure Edwin Lara was brought to justice. Now we will look into other aspects of the case. So that is not a closed case yet.”

Hummel also explained that Lara was charged with robbery because he would not agree enter a plea to sexual assault. Without the robbery charge, he said, the plea deal would not have been reached.

Tim Williams, the attorney for the family in its civil lawsuit against COCC, spoke on the family’s behalf. He suggested that this case could bring about changes across the state.

“The family is obviously very concerned about that fact that this case causes concern for us parents, concern that our kids may not be able to trust people that we teach them to trust,” Williams said.
“And we’re hoping that this case, in large part, not just in this community but in this state, will change that and make it a safe place for our community and our children as they mature, go to college and perhaps have interactions with college security.”

In July, Kaylee Sawyer’s family filed a federal lawsuit against COCC, alleging the college failed to do an adequate background check on Lara and was negligent in providing officers with uniforms and vehicles that look too much like police cars.

You can click on the link to read the full 34-page lawsuit here: https://media.ktvz.com/npg-ktvz-media-us-east-1/document_dev/2017/07/26/2.%20Complaint_1501092868110_7625107_ver1.0.pdf