Rebecca "Becky" Lange, a 44-year-old Portland woman who advocated for unsheltered people's rights, was fatally beaten on a sidewalk in Old Town on May 22.
Her death arrived weeks before the city adopted its sharpest cuts to homeless services in recent memory.
OPB's podcast "The Evergreen" aired a remembrance of Lange on July 6, with reporter Alex Zielinski narrating and producers Mía Estrada and Jenn Chávez.
The episode described Lange as someone who fought for unsheltered people amid a housing shortage and homelessness crisis gripping Portland for more than a decade.
On the evening of May 22, Lange was attacked in the 700 block of Northwest Naito Parkway. Portland Police Bureau officers were not immediately available to respond. Portland Fire & Rescue and American Medical Response paramedics arrived first.
Lange was transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. She died June 3. The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide by blunt force trauma.
A Multnomah County grand jury indicted Roberto M. Vasquez, 64, on June 5 on charges of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, and unlawful use of a weapon, according to the Portland Police Bureau.
All charges carry domestic violence designations, meaning investigators determined a relationship existed between Vasquez and Lange.
PPB said the response required tactical teams, multiple detective units from all precincts, and a drone unit from Gresham Police. Sergeant Kevin Allen attributed the strain to "how thinly stretched our resources were."
The Portland City Council adopted a 2026-27 budget on June 18 that cuts shelter services by $18 million, a 31% reduction, bringing the total to $40 million.
Street outreach funding dropped $1.7 million, or 37%, to $2.8 million. The city also stopped transferring $31 million to Multnomah County for homeless services, saying it will provide those services directly.
The cuts come amid a worsening statewide picture. A U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report released in late June found Oregon saw an 18.9% increase in people experiencing homelessness between 2024 and 2025.
More than 27,200 people were homeless across Oregon on a single night in January 2025.
Portland's own street services data tells a parallel story. During the week of June 1-7, the city's Street Services Coordination Center offered shelter referrals to six people during campsite removals. None accepted. Since April 2022, the center has offered referrals to 9,607 people; 2,917 have used a shelter bed for at least one night.
No memorial service for Lange has been publicly announced. The criminal case against Vasquez is pending in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
