HILLSBORO, Ore.- On May 23, 2023, Ronald Terry Stephens, age 42, of Portland, was convicted by a Washington County jury of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree burglary, two counts of second-degree kidnapping, two counts of unlawful use of a firearm, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. On July 5, 2023, Judge Andrew Erwin sentenced the Defendant to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. The case was prosecuted by Chief Deputy DA Jeff Lesowski and Deputy DA Alyssa Camp.
At noon on Thursday, December 16, 2021, Stephens drove to the apartment of his ex-girlfriend Lacy Kitchens, age 26, on Greenburg Rd. & 96th Ave. in Tigard. He forced open the front door to the apartment and kicked in the victim’s locked bedroom door, finding Ms. Kitchens inside with her new boyfriend, Frank Delgado-Falcon, age 45. Stephens shot Mr. Delgado-Falcon and Ms. Kitchens each twice in the head with a 9mm handgun, killing them instantly. He then kicked in the bedroom door of the victim’s roommates, intending to kill them, but those individuals hid in their bedroom closet and remained unseen. Stephens fled the scene but was arrested later that same night with his fiancé at a Fred Meyer store in Sandy, Oregon. Lacy Kitchens’ blood was found on Stephens’ shoe and video surveillance placed him at the scene of the murders. The investigation also revealed that two weeks earlier Stephens had burglarized the same apartment looking for Ms. Kitchens and Mr. Delgado, and had kidnapped and menaced the roommates with a gun on that earlier date.
During the trial, Stephens’ fiancé, Jaquina Shelonda Anderson, age 31, failed to appear as a witness after being summoned by subpoena. It was learned that Stephens, from jail, had directed another person to help Anderson avoid law enforcement. A warrant has been issued for Anderson’s arrest for contempt of court and her whereabouts remain unknown.
“This was a premeditated double execution that was very nearly a quadruple murder,” said CDDA Lesowski. “While the sentence cannot make up for the victims’ losses, we are grateful that the community will be safer with Mr. Stephens permanently off the streets.”
The Washington County DA’s Office would like to acknowledge the outstanding investigative work by Tigard police, the Washington County Major Crimes Team, the Oregon State Police Forensic Lab, and the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office.
