A Southwest Portland strip club bouncer who had gone on trial twice for allegedly stomping an unruly patron to death in 2019 has been sentenced to probation under a plea deal after both trials ended with hung juries, court records show.
Alex D. Alexander last week pleaded no contest to one count of criminally negligent homicide in the death of 60-year-old Lavoy Blackledge, who was found dead on a Barbur Boulevard overpass around 12:40 a.m. on Aug. 21, 2019.
Multnomah County Circuit Judge Heidi Moawad sentenced Alexander, now 32, to three years of supervised probation.
Witnesses testified during the trials that Blackledge was drunk and stealing pizza slices from a group of poker players when Alexander, a bouncer at Reveal Lounge, ordered him off the property. Blackledge, a registered sex offender, was homeless at the time.
Prosecutors conceded that Blackledge, who was white, had hurled racial slurs at Alexander, who is Black, but said Blackledge was following the order to leave when Alexander suddenly doubled back to the overpass and attacked Blackledge.
Alexander sent Blackledge to the ground with a flying kick and then stomped on his back, crushing his ribs and killing him, prosecutors said.
One former employee at the club who testified during the second trial said she saw Alexander stomp on Blackledge, while another said Alexander indicated he planned to cover up the crime by destroying his shoes, The Oregonian/OregonLive previously reported
But Alexander’s defense attorney, Alexander Hamalian, poked holes in the state’s version of events during both trials, arguing the two employees were later fired and blamed the bouncer.
Hamalian told jurors that anyone could have attacked Blackledge during a 35-minute gap before his body was found by a passing police officer. He also noted that investigators were unable to determine where Blackledge camped or what he had done earlier that day.
Alexander faced a first-degree manslaughter charge during his first trial in 2023, but Circuit Judge Kathleen Dailey declared a mistrial after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked. A subsequent poll revealed that 10 jurors had actually voted not guilty — a lawful verdict — but Dailey determined it was too late to reverse her mistrial declaration.
While guilty verdicts must be unanimous under Oregon law, acquittals can be achieved by the agreement of just 10 jurors.
Deputy District Attorney Sean Hughey opted for a lesser charge, criminally negligent homicide, during a second trial this January. That proceeding, too, ended in a mistrial when jurors were unable to agree on a verdict.
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