CRR suspect in mother’s death caught, charged with murder

(Update: Smith-Brown booked into Madras jail; neighbor speaks fondly of victim)

A Crooked River Ranch man wanted in the killing of his mother at their home surrendered to police in the Portland suburb of Tualatin early Thursday morning after a standoff. A suspicious item found in his car was examined and blown up by a police robot. He was returned to Jefferson County and booked into jail later in the day on murder, manslaughter and other charges.

Police said they tried to pull over a car driven by Gavin Smith-Brown, 29, that had been the subject of a statewide search, but instead he pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot and refused to get out. A special negotiation team was brought in and he eventually surrendered.

Smith-Brown had been “cooperative but not compliant” in getting out of the Subaru Outback authorities had issued a statewide alert for, Tualatin police Lt. Greg Pickering told KGW.

Smith-Brown’s car was spotted around 3 a.m. and drove into the parking lot of a McDonald’s at Tualatin Sherwood and Boones Ferry roads, Pickering said.

After searching the car, police removed a suspicious object, and a bomb squad robot was sent in for an inspection. Shortly after 7 a.m., the robot detonated a device that it attached to the package.

The incident shut down nearby roads while police negotiated with Smith-Brown. They were reopened around 5 a.m.

Sheriff Jim Adkins said investigators traveled to Tualatin to interview Smith-Brown.

He was was brought back to Madras and booked into the Jefferson County Jail later Thursday on five charges: murder, first- and second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He was held without bail pending arraignment on Friday,

Smith-Brown was not taken into custody as a result of a tip, but the Tri-County Major Incident Team said it wanted to “thank the public for all the tips received” in the case.

While Smith-Brown was returned to Central Oregon Thursday, neighbors in Crooked River Ranch left a bouquet of flowers near the home’s driveway, in memory of the suspect’s slain mother, Gayla Smith, 65.

“She was just good people, all the way around,” said Zane, who lives two houses down.

Neighbors remember her as a woman who loved to kayak and spend time in the outdoors.

“She was just starting her second childhood,” he said with a smile. “She was just — ‘I’m going here, I’m going to do this and I’m going to do that.'”

And she cared for her neighbors.

“We loved her,” he said, turning tearful about the note and flowers left at her home, “just to let her know we miss her.”

Authorities had alerted the public Tuesday night for help in finding Smith-Brown, suspected of killing his mother at the home they shared. On Wednesday, they identified a different car he could be in.

The sheriff’s office, Oregon State Police and Central Oregon Major Incident Team have been working the case since a welfare check requested by Gayla Smith’s employer turned up her body at the home in the 18000 block of Southwest Dove Road. Smith, a retired California police officer, had retired to CRR and ran a home inspection business.

Smith-Brown has known ties to the Portland area and Las Vegas, OSP Capt. Tim Fox said.

On Tuesday night, authorities said he last was known to be driving a charcoal black 2010 Subaru Outback with black-toned rims and Oregon license plate 372 HFH. But they said Wednesday he might be in a 2013 Subaru Outback, Oregon license plate 650 HGT, also black with black rims.

Adkins said Wednesday that Gayla Smith’s son lived at her home on and off, “this last time for a short time,” but detectives are still piecing their info together.

The sheriff also clarified Sunday’s sequence of events, saying his deputy made a welfare check on the home in the morning and “knocked on the door but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary or suspicious.” Friends later went to the home, entered and observed something — the sheriff isn’t saying what — that prompted them to call police to the scene. Deputies returned to the home and found the woman’s body.

Adkins confirmed earlier to NewsChannel 21 that Smith-Brown was arrested on a criminal mischief charge in mid-May, accused of breaking a window on the home’s door, but was released from the county jail when the district attorney declined to press charges.

A check of online court records only finds a February 2013 ticket for violating the basic speed rule in Jefferson County, at a time when he was listed as living in Tigard. He did not appear for arraignment the following month paid a fine of about $260, the records showed.

Adkins said earlier Wednesday they are not yet releasing details on how she died. But he told NewsChannel 21 there was no danger to the public, and more than 10 detectives are chasing down leads in the case.

Crime scene tape blocked off the home’s driveway Sunday as officers stood guard and secured the scene.

The Central Oregon Major Incident Team was called in, along with Oregon State Police, Bend Police and Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office detectives. Adkins said search warrants were being written and obtained for processing the crime scene.and collecting evidence; an OSP forensics team was due on scene.

Neighbors said Monday that they were shocked when they heard the news.

Chris Allsman lives up the street from where the body was found.

“Initial reaction was disbelief. I mean, it’s just something that you wouldn’t expect, it’s like, ‘What are you talking about?” Allsman said. “And it’s gone from, I think everybody was on the same page, and now I think that it’s just more that everybody is just in shock.”