Jay Underwood drove to the nearby WinCo on March 17 to buy some cabbage and other groceries to prepare a late-night St. Patricks Day dinner.
It should have been a quick trip just three blocks away, but he didnt return. His wife kept calling and texting and then grumbling when he didnt respond.
Becky Underwood checked her Life360 family locator app, which placed him at the store off Northeast 122nd Avenue based on his phones GPS location.
She sent her son, Jeffrey Casey, to go find him.
When Casey arrived at WinCo, he found the store cordoned off with yellow police tape and police cars surrounding it.
He saw his mothers white Toyota Avalon parked in the lot. Underwood, his stepfather, had taken the car to the store.
Casey told the first officer he saw, Im looking for my father.
Police had him stay put and a detective eventually questioned him in a mobile command center set up outside the store.
Casey said he wasnt told what had happened.
Becky Underwood, meanwhile, had been watching TV and learned someone had been shot inside the WinCo.
I knew his phone was inside that store, she said. My first thought was he was being held up as a witness.
Hours later, Portland homicide Detective Brad Clifton arrived at their home. He told them Jay Underwood had been shot and killed inside the WinCo.
Court records and interviews by The Oregonian/OregonLive reveal the breadth of the crime and its strikingly public nature -- a fatal shooting in a crowded store followed by an armed carjacking in the parking lot.
Prosecutors, a defense attorney and family members all have indicated they dont know what provoked the shooting.
It could have involved drugs or might have been spurred when the alleged gunmans ex-girlfriend called Underwood moments before he was killed, police and a prosecutor said in court. But they dont know for sure, they said.
Jay Underwood was the 21st person to die in a homicide in Portland in a year on pace to set a record for violent deaths in the city.
FOR MORE ON THE PEOPLE WHO DIED, NEW DETAILS OF CASES, go to Portland Homicides: Under the Gun
I havent accepted it yet, Becky Underwood said in late July, three months after the shooting, as she sat with her son outside their home.
In my mind, hes going to come around the corner from that shed over there and come in, she said. It doesnt seem real. I do know hes gone, but I just expect to see him come home anytime because he was always here.
SHOT IN THE BREAD AISLE
Jay Underwood pulled into the WinCo lot at 9:43 p.m., the stores surveillance video shows.
His friend Blake Daniels had stopped by their home earlier and then rode with him to the store but stayed behind in the car as Underwood entered the store alone.
Less than 10 minutes later, the video shows Daniels emerging from the Toyota and heading into WinCo as well, dressed in a dark coat, rust-colored hat and green shoes with tan soles.
He walked past the shelves of bread holding a gallon jug of water and stopped briefly at a rack by a checkout aisle.
He grabbed a box of Hostess cupcakes and walked back along the bread shelves. He got to the end of the aisle before he turned around, slowly walked back, reached into his right pocket, pulled a gun out and appeared to fire it at close range at a man standing in front of the rows of bread, according to the video.
The man, Underwood, instantly crumbled to the floor.
Daniels didnt break his gait, turned and ran out a checkstand aisle.
He had been in the WinCo for only two minutes, according to the video and Clifton, the homicide detective.
Police found Underwood lying face up on the floor between the bread aisle and a row of cashier lines. A single 40-caliber shell casing lay about 10 feet from his body. He was dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the chest, Clifton testified in court.
Video surveillance footage from the WinCo on March 17, 2021 shows Jay Underwood's friend, Blake Maurice Daniels, who is accused of shooting Underwood once in the chest inside the store and then walking out, holding a jug of water and cupcakes, before carjacking a vehicle in the parking lot, police say.Surveillance video
Outside the store, Daniels walked up to an occupied Subaru Forester that had just pulled into the parking lot and climbed into the back seat on the drivers side, video shows.
Holding a black handgun, he ordered the motorist to drive, according to the detective. The driver and his wife quickly bailed out of their car and Daniels took off in it.
Investigators who arrived at the scene reviewed the video and interviewed Underwoods stepson, then distributed a flier with Daniels photo and description of the stolen Subaru.
The next morning, police found Daniels and arrested him at the Rodeway Inn near Northeast 97th Avenue and Sandy Boulevard, according to the detective.
The Subaru was discovered on a dead-end street at Northeast 106th Avenue near San Raphael Street, with the keys left inside. A nearby resident reported it to police.
Not far from the abandoned SUV, police found a dark-colored jacket and a discarded rust-colored beanie, Clifton said.
Jay Underwood, left, Becky Underwood and her son, Jeffrey Casey, on vacation in Mexico in 1996. Photo courtesy of Becky Underwood
PHONE CALL PRECEDED SHOOTING
Police patted down Daniels. He had a black case on him containing two bags of methamphetamine and a bag of heroin, they said.
His ex-girlfriend, Heather Marie Casillas, told officers that Daniels began dealing drugs -- methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and OxyContin -- after he was laid off during the coronavirus pandemic, Clifton testified.
She told police Daniels was dealing drugs with Underwood and by November 2020, the two were together on a regular basis -- almost every day for months, the detective testified.
Daniels also was using human growth hormone and steroids and had become increasingly angry and volatile, she said, according to the court records. They had broken up in recent weeks.
On the evening of March 17, Casillas called Jay Underwood to see if he knew where Daniels was. She planned to retrieve some belongings from an apartment she had shared with Daniels and wanted to make sure he wasnt there when she stopped by.
Underwood didnt answer her first call. But they connected by phone at 9:48 p.m. when Underwood was in the WinCo. He told her he was shopping and that Daniels was with him, waiting out in the car.
He said hed call her back. He never did.
Police investigators and the prosecutor said they dont know exactly what prompted the shooting.
Deputy District Attorney Melissa Marrero said in court that it could have had something to do with a drug deal or the fact that Daniels ex-girlfriend was calling Jay Underwood and he took her call.
There are multiple potential motives here, she said.
William Walsh, Daniels lawyer, argued at a bail hearing that prosecutors failed to prove any animosity between the two men. They both arrived at the store together and there was no evidence of a fight or dispute, he said.
It doesnt seem to be as rational as one would think, Walsh said.
We were a happy couple, Becky Underwood said. "Everyone has their moments. But being together for so long, we finally figured out all that stupid stuff. Photo courtesy of Becky Underwood
HE DID EVERYTHING FOR ME
Jay Underwood had told his wife he didnt want a funeral when he died.
He really enjoyed life. He said, Have a party, Becky Underwood recalled.
She respected his wishes. She planned instead to host a celebration of his life, but hasnt yet.
She said she has no idea what propelled the killing. Both she and her son said they were surprised to learn at a court hearing that Jay Underwood had anything to do with drug dealing.
Becky Underwood said she needs some way to let out her rage and has considered going to the beach to just scream.
Her husband, she said, had been her caretaker for about the past 10 years after working 24 years for ADP, the human resources software provider. He supported her as she battled breast cancer, struggled with a detached retina and most recently suffered hip pain that hampered her ability to walk.
He did everything for me, she said. Despite her efforts to help out, He cooked all the meals. He always said, I just want you to be comfortable.
Jay Underwood was born in Boise, lived in Spokane as a child and later moved to Portland. He would have turned 61 on July 3. He and his wife would have celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on Aug. 24.
He had many interests. He loved to barbecue and cook -- prime rib and carbonara were among his favorites. He and his wife used to go camping in Newport and enjoyed vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
At one time, he was president of a local Mopar car club and the couple attended car shows across the state. He enjoyed fixing cars and would head out the door at all hours to help neighbors and friends whose cars had broken down or run out of gas, his wife said.
He considered starting his own contracting company because he was very much a fixer or would make something to fix something, Becky Underwood said.
He and Daniels had talked about perhaps starting a carpet-cleaning business in the future, she said.
Police say Blake Maurice Daniels fatally shot Jay Underwood inside a WinCo in Northeast Portland on March 17, 2021, and then carjacked a Subaru that was occupied and in the parking lot as he walked out of the store. The stolen Subaru was found three days later on Northeast 106th Avenue, according to police and prosecutors.Court exhibit
SUSPECT HAD RECENT ARREST
Earlier this summer, Becky Underwood attended Daniels bail hearing at the Multnomah County Courthouse.
She said she was sad and surprised to see Daniels. But I got satisfaction seeing him all chained up, she said.
Before the prosecutor played the WinCo video that captured the shooting, she left the courtroom. She said she couldnt bear to see it.
Less than two weeks before the killing, Daniels had been arrested on allegations that he came after his ex-girlfriend, Casillas, with a rifle when she tried to gather some of her things from the apartment. He was accused of being a felon in possession of a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon and menacing.
Three days later, Daniels was placed on supervised release on the weapons charges pending trial, and prosecutors dropped the menacing charge.
He was ordered not to have a gun and to report to a supervision officer on March 9 , ten days before Underwoods killing. He never reported, according to court records.
Daniels is now being held without bail on an 11-count indictment. Hes pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder with a firearm, two counts of unlawful use of a firearm, one count of first-degree robbery with a gun, two counts of unauthorized use of a vehicle, felon in possession of a firearm, possession of methamphetamine, possession of heroin and delivery of meth and delivery of heroin.
Although the neighborhood WinCo used to be their go-to grocery store, neither Becky Underwood nor her son will step back inside again, they said.
Casey said hes moved back in with his mother and is watching over her now.
Becky Underwood is left with her last memory of her husband, quickly kissing her goodbye before he left for the store. We sort of just brushed lips, she said.
I never thought it would happen to me... always thought it would happen to someone else, she said. You just dont know when someone walks out your door.
-- Maxine Bernstein
Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212
Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian
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