Inset: Aaron McInnis (GoFundMe). Background: The Portland area where Arvoni Hayes shot and killed Oregon father Aaron McInnis (KPTV/YouTube).
An Oregon man has been sentenced to prison for killing a local father who approached a car after seeing a woman inside crying.
Arvoni Hayes, 25, of Portland, received an 18-year prison sentence Friday, followed by three years of post-prison supervision, for the July 2024 shooting death of 30-year-old Aaron McInnis.
Hayes pleaded guilty in July to first-degree manslaughter and unlawful use of a weapon.
“Aaron McInnis was a hero to the very end,” Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Eric Palmer said in a press release issued Friday. “He did not hesitate to check on the safety of a stranger and tragically lost his life to the defendant’s cowardly shooting. Today, we honor the hero and send the defendant to prison.”
Court records and witness accounts say Hayes tried to “put as many bullets into Aaron as possible” after McInnis went over to check on the woman, who appeared to be in distress inside the vehicle.
“I heard roughly 10 gunshots,” a nearby resident told local Fox affiliate KPTV the day after the shooting.
McInnis was hit several times and later died at a nearby hospital.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said McInnis had been dropping off a friend near Normandale Park in Northeast Portland. A man then asked him to help check on a woman he had heard crying in a nearby car, and the two men approached the vehicle together.
Hayes and the woman, whom police described as his girlfriend, were inside a car parked in a lot near the park on the night of the killing. McInnis told police he was concerned about the woman’s safety.
According to court documents, Hayes was “completely naked” inside the car and referred to the woman using a derogatory term. McInnis asked him to get out so they could speak.
The DA’s office said Hayes eventually stepped out of the vehicle naked and agreed to leave his girlfriend alone. As he slowly put on his clothes, however, he suddenly climbed back into the car and shouted at the woman to drive away. McInnis ran after the vehicle as it sped from the parking lot.
Hayes stopped the car at a nearby intersection and McInnis began walking toward it, according to police. Hayes exited the vehicle and started firing at McInnis, striking him multiple times before fleeing.
“The defendant got out and began firing a gun at the victim,” the DA’s office said. “Mr. McInnis was hit three times and passed away at OHSU.”
Police say the woman told them she feared for her life while in the car with Hayes, but it was not immediately clear why.
Cops searched for Hayes and eventually found him months later. He was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a loaded firearm in a public place.
The murder charge was dropped as part of Hayes’ plea deal.
“[McInnis] was the victim of a violent homicide,” a GoFundMe for McInnis’ family reads. “This senseless crime committed against him has left an enormous gap for his family to try to piece together, especially his 10-year-old son, Blake.”
According to his loved ones, McInnis was a father and sales representative for a local company in the Portland area.
“Aaron was an unforgettable person,” the GoFundMe says. “He was a son, brother, father, and cherished friend. He touched my life amongst the lives of so many others. He had a heart of gold that never ceased supporting those in need.”
The post Man shot stranger who asked why woman was crying in his car, put ‘as many bullets’ into the good Samaritan dad ‘as possible’ — now he’s headed to prison first appeared on Law & Crime.
