A 21-year-old Woodburn man accused of kidnapping and killing a transgender teenager and shooting at police in May died by suicide in his jail cell this week, sheriff’s officials said.
Kenneth William Peden III, of Woodburn was found unconscious at 6 a.m. Wednesday in his Marion County Jail cell, the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Medical staff tried to resuscitate him, but Peden was pronounced dead at the scene.
Sheriff’s officials said they could provide no other information about Peden’s death, citing the open investigation.
Peden was in jail without bail awaiting trial on charges of murder, kidnapping, attempted murder and assault.
Peden was accused of kidnapping a 17-year-old Gervais High School student. The student’s family referred to the teen as Molly/Ollie Taylor. A Statesman Journal story from Taylor’s celebration of life said Taylor was assigned female at birth but had identified as male for the past couple of years.
Gervais police first responded to a disturbance in the 1000 block of Depot Court at 4:45 p.m. on May 12 and they found Arik Reed, 22, suffering from a gunshot wound. Reed was a friend of Taylor’s who was trying to stop the kidnapping when Peden shot him, authorities said.
Shortly afterward, a Marion County sheriff’s deputy found the truck Peden was driving with Taylor in the passenger seat.
Peden fled from officers, according to the state police. Troopers said he fired multiple rounds toward officers while traveling through Silverton before stopping on Oregon 214 near Forest Ridge Road Northeast, where he exchanged gunfire with a Marion County deputy and two Silverton police officers.
Peden was arrested and taken to the Marion County Jail. Taylor was flown to a local hospital with a gunshot wound and died a week later on May 19.
The criminal case against Peden has been dismissed following his death, the Marion County District Attorney’s office said Thursday.
Attorneys assigned to represent Peden in court did not immediately respond to inquiries from the Oregonian/OregonLive.
Court records show that Peden’s attorneys filed a motion Sept. 6 to suppress evidence in the murder trial, including texts between Taylor and Reed as well as Peden’s initial interview with Silverton police detectives after the shooting.
Walter Todd, a Salem lawyer appointed to the case, wrote in court documents that Peden was “incapable of knowingly waiving his rights to Miranda based on his intellectual capacity and then-existing health conditions.”
Todd claimed Peden suffered head injuries during the police chase and shooting.
Two weeks before Peden’s suicide, his attorneys requested that the court not allow information to be presented at trial about Peden’s prior conduct, including a report that Taylor was missing for eight days, from April 20 to 28, and was with Peden during that time. Another report interviewed someone associated with the case who claimed Peden had beaten up a biker and was known to carry multiple knives.
The Statesman-Journal reported that more than 100 people attended a celebration of life for Taylor on June 19 at Gervais High School. Taylor loved animals, music, art, had a large following on social media and was an active member of the Gervais FFA program, the newspaper reported.
The family posted in an online GoFundMe page: “Molly/Ollie is such an amazing child with a quirky sense of humor, who impacted so many people, and we will miss her terribly as we try to move forward, but we are comforted by the knowledge that we will be with her again someday. It is her/his desire that as people move through the grieving process, that they do not allow their hearts to dwell on thoughts of anger, but to channel that time and energy into helping those around you.”
In another post, family members said they use both pronouns to describe Taylor: “We the family are perfectly comfortable using either, per our child’s direct instructions. Neither is an insult to the memory of our child, and they both together represent the magnificent life that we are all missing.”
Peden’s suicide was the second in-custody death at the Marion County Jail this year; a man died on July 18 during a medical emergency.
The Linn County Sheriff’s Office is investigating Peden’s death with cooperation from the Marion County District Attorney’s Office and Medical Examiner. Under Oregon Law, a death investigation is required for all deaths occurring while incarcerated in any jail, correction facility or in police custody.
--Savannah Eadens; seadens@oregonian.com; 503-221-6651; @savannaheadens
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