An 82-year-old man was brutally attacked and killed at a bus stop by a serial criminal Portland on June 27th.
Donald A. Pierce, 82, and Edward Lichtenstein, 88, were victims of an unprovoked attack near the Portland State University campus.
Lichtenstein was discharged from the hospital, but Pierce died of his injuries in a hospital more than a week after the attack.
Witnesses told police Keffer James White, 29, approached the men and began making fun of them because they were old.
White then hit Lichtenstein in the head, knocking him over before throwing Pierce into the street and repeatedly kicking him in the head.
White then returned to Lichtenstein and punched the man in the face.
Pierce sustained severe head and facial injuries from the kicks, resulting in his death, while Lichtenstein sustained minor injuries.
Donald A. Pierce, a lifelong professor and researcher, was bludgeoned to death by Keffer James White, 29, in an unprovoked attack at a Portland bus stop
Keffer James White appears in court after violently assaulting two men, one of whom died after White repeatedly kicked him in the head
The corner where the attack took place, in Portland, near Portland State University
Police were responding to an unrelated call in a nearby area when they stumbled upon the attack and arrested White.
Following Pierce’s death, White faces charges of second-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and second-degree assault in the case.
White has a long criminal record, and arrests before he attacked the two men include unauthorized use of a vehicle, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and strangulation.
White is being held without bail at the Multnomah County Jail.
His next court appearance will be on Friday, according to court records.
Pierce lived in southwest Portland and was an accomplished professor and academic.
After receiving his Ph.D. in statistics from Oklahoma State University in 1965, Pierce taught for 30 years, from 1966 to 1996, at Oregon State University.
Pierce moved to Japan in 1996 to research the effects and cancer risks of atomic bombs on Japanese residents.
The 82-year-old has also enjoyed success off campus, editing several major academic publications, authoring scholarly articles and serving on the boards of statistical associations.
Edward Lichtenstein, 88, was also attacked by Keffer James White but was discharged from hospital
Pierce recently taught at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, where he taught biostatistics.
Portland has seen a dramatic increase in crime lately, particularly when it comes to gun violence.
Portland Police say there have been 670 reported shootings in the city so far this year, including 41 reported homicides.
However, many say the rise in drug use in the city due to decriminalization legislation has pushed up the crime rate.
Oregon became the first state in the United States to decriminalize the possession of heroin, methamphetamine, LSD, oxycodone and other drugs for personal use after voters approved a 2020 ballot measure to decriminalize hard drugs.
The number of drug overdose deaths in the state also hit an all-time high of 1,069 in 2021, up 41 percent from 2020, Fox News reported.
And of the 1,885 people who received tickets for personal possessions in the first year, only 91 people, a meager percent, called the hotline, according to its nonprofit operator Lines For Life.
There is no information as to whether White was under the influence when he initiated the unprovoked attack on Pierce and Lichtenstein.
