Accomplice In Oregon Drug Dealer’s Death & Robbery Jailed For 22 Years
Following the 2022 fatal shooting of a drug dealer, 57-year-old Abed Fattoum, the accomplice to the crime, Bonscott J. Skinner, now 28, who grabbed a backpack full of drugs during the robbery, was sentenced to 22 years in state prison on Friday.
Abed Fattoum, Portland Drug Dealer, Shot in Tent
A second man charged with the robbery and fatal shooting of Fattoum inside his tent at about 10 a.m., Dec. 21, 2022, on Southeast Ninth Avenue near Clay Street pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter on Friday.
Prosecutors said that in the surveillance footage, Fattoum was seen slashing a machete wildly at the alleged killer, Kailen Guffey, 40, as Skinner skulks away from the tent with Fattoum’s meth and fentanyl-filled backpack. Moments later, Fattoum is seen collapsing in the street with a bullet hole in his chest.
Fattoum’s girlfriend, Cheyvonne Price, was inside the tent at the time and told investigators that Skinner and Guffey were both armed and intended to rob her boyfriend of his drug stash.
Skinner had a pistol in his waistband but never took it out and when she heard a shot she tossed the black bag of drugs to Skinner out of fear.
Skinner and Guffey left the scene and headed for a hospital in an unmarked white Ford Expedition where Guffey told medics he’d cut his arm while skateboarding. Alexandra Baumann, 36, was also allegedly inside the SUV and has been charged with hindering prosecution.
Bonscott J. Skinner, Accomplice In Death Of Drug Dealer, Sentenced
On Friday, Skinner took a plea deal and told the court he never meant for anyone to die. He claimed there was an argument despite that the two had been victims before. Skinner said, “Abed was my friend, and he didn’t deserve to go out that way.”
Skinner shot another man around noon on Jan. 5, 2023, near the junction of Interstates 5 and 405 in North Portland, fifteen days after Fattoum’s death, and faces a charge of attempted murder in the unrelated shooting of Jason Poston.
The victim said he was inside a wooden structure when Skinner entered, set his home alight, and wounded him in the leg and arm. Skinner’s motive was not disclosed.
Prosecutor Kristen Kyle-Castelli read a statement during the hearing from Fattoum’s brother, who lives in Jordan. His brother said Fattoum’s struggles did not define him and his life mattered. Fattoum’s death rippled through their lives.
Skinner was handed down a 22-year sentence under the terms of the plea deal and granted credit for time served by Circuit Judge Christopher Marshall. Guffey remains incarcerated after pleading not guilty to second-degree murder charges.