A Portland man accused of shooting and killing a man at a Gresham MAX station earlier this month pleaded not guilty Friday to murder and weapon charges.
Hector Argueta-Navarrette, 18, appeared in blue scrubs wearing a mask in a courtroom at the Multnomah County Justice Center. Through his attorney, he pleaded not guilty to a three-count indictment charging him with second-degree murder and two counts related to the unlawful use and possession of a gun.
The indictment accuses Argueta-Navarrette, 18, of killing Lucian Thibodeaux, who was shot on the westbound MAX platform at East Burnside Street and 162nd Avenue.
Argueta-Navarrette did not speak in court.
He was booked Thursday afternoon into the Multnomah County Detention Center after a judge issued a warrant for his arrest last week.
Gresham police said they responded to reports of a shooting shortly after 5 a.m. on July 1 when they found Thibodeaux, 43, on the MAX platform. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died of his injuries, police said.
Neither police nor prosecutors have said what led up to the shooting and whether the two men knew each other. A judge sealed the probable cause affidavit in the case but didn’t indicate why.
A GoFundMe for the Thibodeaux family has raised more than $1,100 as of Friday afternoon. On the page, Thibodeaux’s son described him as a “humble, quiet, gentle man.”
-Zaeem Shaikh; mshaikh@oregonian.com; 503-221-8111; @zaeemshake
