Fatal stabbing of Radio Cab driver leads to 22-year prison sentence

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The person guilty of stabbing a Radio Cab driver to death on Easter last year has been sentenced to 22 years in prison, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Moses Jacob Lopez, 30, pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter and unlawful use of a weapon after an unprovoked stabbing led to the death of 43-year-old Reese McDowell Lawhon on April 9, 2023.

Lawhon had picked up Lopez in downtown Portland before the incident unfolded around 6:40 p.m. near Southeast Washington Street and Water Avenue. Lawhon was dead when officers arrived.

The day after the incident, Radio Cab released a statement calling Lawhon “kind” and “dedicated.”

“He had been driving over a decade and never had a complaint,” a spokesperson from Radio Cab said. “He cared about Portland and loved this city and especially loved helping people get from one place to another. He was a model driver and an exemplary example of the people who have kept Radio Cab as a vibrant and desired place to work.”

Six days before the taxi attack, Lopez was released from the Coos County Jail on April 3, 2023 under a 2021 Oregon law aimed at making the criminal justice system more equitable by ordering inmates to be released for certain crimes instead of having to come up with bail.

Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier told KOIN 6 that Lopez threatened two employees at Bi-Mart in North Bend with a knife during a dispute over a transaction. The charges included menacing and unlawful use of a weapon.

Lopez was booked and released by jail staff the same day under criteria set by the law and Oregon courts. The DA said Lopez hadn’t shown up for his court date, three days before killing Lawhon.