Jeremy Christian unanimously found guilty on all counts in MAX stabbing trial

May 2024 · 5 minute read

Jeremy Christian was unanimously found guilty on all counts in the MAX train stabbing trial.

He has been convicted of the following:

Jeremy Christian was facing a dozen charges following the 2017 MAX train stabbing attack that left two men dead and one fighting for his life. Christian gave up his right to testify on his own behalf during the trial.

RELATED| WATCH: Video of Jeremy Christian threatening to stab people shown in court

On May 26, 2017, it was a clear and beautiful spring day in Portland ahead of Memorial Day weekend. Dozens of people were riding the Green Line Max headed east towards Clackamas Town Center.

According to testimony, after a day of drinking sangria wine, Jeremy Christian, who was 35-years-old at the time, boarded the train. Almost immediately, he began spewing hate speech towards two black teenage girls. One of those girls is Muslim and was wearing a hijab.

Throughout the nearly four-week trial, witnesses testified that Christian made comments on the train about decapitating people and gave his take on how to obtain world peace. According to many witnesses, Christian said, "A billion Christians kill a billion Muslims and then the Jews kill themselves."

The train operator that day testified to hearing an altercation of some sort and telling the passengers on the train, “If you don’t knock it off in the first car, I’m calling the cops.” That operator told the court he did call his dispatch who called the cops before he knew things turned deadly.

As the train arrived at the Hollywood Transit Center, Micah Fletcher confronted Jeremy Christian telling him to stop yelling at the girls. Others like former Marine, Shawn Forde, also tried to get Christian to leave the girls alone by trying to divert Christian's attention to him. Forde also attempted to alert the conductor by pressing the alert button inside the train.

Talisien Namkai Meche also got involved. moving closer to Christian with his phone in his hand. Almost immediately, as video shows, Christian grabbed his phone and threw it to the ground. That’s when Namkai Meche stood up, facing Christian face-to-face.

You can hear in video captured on the MAX train that day, Christian saying, “Do something! do something!” The video shows Christian shove both Namkai Meche and Fletcher, who has now stepped in to help.

Fletcher testified he didn’t believe Namkai Meche “looked like a fighter,” so he wanted to help him.

"I didn’t save him," Fletcher said in testimony about Namkai Meche. "I really wanted to and couldn’t. I just wasn’t strong enough."

Fletcher pushed Christian several times knocking him down, all the while telling him to “get off the MAX."

The video shows Christian pull a knife out of his pocket and stab the men in the throat. First was Fletcher, then Namkai Meche. Another man, Ricky Best, was also stabbed.

A medical examiner testified that the men were stabbed with such force that Best lost a molar and fractured a vertebra. A bone in Fletcher’s face was chipped and Namkai Meche was stabbed in the forehead. All of this took place in 11 seconds.

As soon as Fletcher was stabbed, he ran to the platform to get away. Good Samaritans worked to save his life by applying pressure to his wounds.

Several people tried to save Best and Namkai Meche, but doctors testified major arteries were cut in the stabbing and it would have been impossible to save them. Best died on the train. Namkai Meche died shortly after arriving at the hospital.

Fletcher survived, though doctors said the knife missed a vital artery by millimeters.

In video captured by witnesses, you can see Christian exiting the train yelling, “Who else want’s some?” while wielding the knife at a number of bystanders.

A number of witnesses testified that they followed him, even finding him at one point using soda to wash blood off his hands and the knife.

Those witnesses helped lead police to Christian, who arrested him blocks away from the Hollywood Transit Center. Video from inside a Portland Police officer’s cruiser shows Christian admitting to the stabbings, even saying “I hope they all died.”

Stemming from the stabbing incident, Christian has been charged with two counts of murder in the first degree and one count of attempted murder in the first degree.

Taliesin Namkai Meche was just 23 years old and a recent Reed College Graduate. His sister testified he had just purchased a home before he was killed.

Best, 52, was a father of four, an Army Veteran, and an employee with the Bureau of Development Services in Portland.

Micah Fletcher, 21 years old at the time, was a student at Portland State University. He now has a large scar on his neck from the attacks.

During the trial, the defense claimed Christian acted in self-defense because he felt cornered by the three men.

In 2019, Oregon passed a new law that changes the definition of aggravated murder. Christian had been charged with two counts of aggravated murder for the deaths of Best and Meche. Under the new law, however, aggravated murder now only applies to premeditated, intentional homicide of two or more people, acts of terrorism, and the murder of children or police officers, among other things.

The crimes Christian was accused of do not qualify as aggravated murder, and in November, the judge changed the charges to murder in the first degree. This means the death penalty is off the table.

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