Harpole

BEND — The warning signs were there, and many of those in her circle of family and friends could see that Amara Marluke was in an abusive relationship, her mother says.

The Portland State University freshman gave Keenan Reece Harpole, her on-again, off-again boyfriend and former star athlete from Bend, repeated second chances, even after he struck her earlier this year. She didn’t go to police or school officials.

“Mara tried to end it multiple times, but she kept going back, unfortunately,” said Marluke’s mother, Amy, using a nickname for her daughter. “We’d all seen the warning signs — her friends, her family — we were all trying to make sure she never went back to him.”

Ever since her daughter was found shot in an apparent homicide early April 4 just off the PSU campus, Amy Marluke has heard an outpouring from friends and relatives who say they saw the same things.

Harpole, 20, a Mountain View High School graduate, has been charged in her killing and is being held without bail in the Multnomah County Detention Center.

At a short arraignment hearing Thursday, April 14, he entered pleas of not guilty to murder and a weapons charge, and a date was set for his next appearance.

The shooting was reported around 1 a.m. April 4 outside a convenience store near Sixth Avenue and SW College Street near the PSU campus. The shooting location is directly between Marluke’s apartment and her workplace, her mother said.

Seven hours later, Harpole was arrested on property his family owns outside Bend, a drive of more than three hours from Portland.

Police have not released a suspected motive or other information in the killing, but in Harpole’s indictment, prosecutors call it domestic violence.

Harpole was Marluke’s first boyfriend, her mother said. In high school, Amara said she wasn’t interested in dating. It could have been the gulf in maturity level of the average high school student and Amara, who was wise beyond her years in many ways.

“Because he was her first boyfriend, I think that helped contribute to making her feel like he was the only one who would accept her fully,” Amy Marluke said.

Amara Marluke spent years recovering from childhood trauma.

She lived with her biological mother and younger siblings until age 6, when the state placed the children in foster care. At 9, she and her younger sister joined the family of Amy and Brad Marluke, a Beaverton tech consultant and carpenter with a 2-year-old son.

“It was the hardest time in my life, I’m not going to lie,” Amy Marluke said. “I think I was prepared for it to be challenging, but what I didn’t expect was how much we would have to change, as well.”

Years were spent developing academic skills, learning healthy boundaries and working with therapists to heal some of the old wounds Amara Marluke had suffered.

It wasn’t easy but she went from being two years behind in school to graduating with honors at age 18. She earned a scholarship at PSU and at the time of her death, was leaning toward pursuing a career in music or art therapy, though the freshman still had her options open.

She met Keenan Harpole while doing laundry. They lived on the same floor of the University Pointe student apartments just off campus. At the time, he was a running back on the PSU football team.

There were other warning signs in their relationship, clearer now in retrospect, Amy Marluke said. Harpole never wanted to meet his girlfriend’s parents. A date and time would be set to meet, but at the last minute, he’d “freak out” and cancel. But after he hit Amara, Harpole was intent on meeting her parents. But by this point, the family wasn’t interested, Amy Marluke said.

“We had no interest in meeting him because we were trying to make sure that she stayed far away from him,” Amy Marluke said. “He definitely was a big fan of manipulation.”

Bend-based relatives of Harpole’s did not return calls seeking comment Thursday. On Monday, one of Harpole’s relatives was among 10 witnesses who testified to a Multnomah County grand jury. Witnesses also included a medical examiner, a fellow PSU student and several Portland police officers.

Harpole has retained defense attorney Benjamin Kim, who declined to comment. Kim moved to Portland after practicing in Deschutes County, where he represented several high-profile homicide defendants, including Edwin Lara and Tashina Jordan.

Marluke’s killing is the 26th of 28 homicides reported in Portland so far this year. The homicide rate in Oregon’s largest city is on track to approach last year’s record-setting total of 90, according to figures provided by the Portland Police Bureau.

From 2010 until 2019, Portland averaged around 25 homicides per year. But the first year of the pandemic saw a marked increase, from 32 in 2019 to 45 in 2020.

Brad Marluke’s employer, Green Hammer Design-Build, has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for funeral expenses. It’s been so successful, the family is discussing a possible scholarship at PSU.

When she was young, Amara sought to help other kids who grew up in the foster system. In high school, she became passionate about racial justice after joining the Black Student Union at Sunset High School, where she thrived among students with similar life experiences.

So it’s likely she would have gone on to fight for victims of domestic violence, her mother said.

“While this was not one of the causes of her heart, I think it would have been, had she gotten out of that relationship,” her mother said. “So we are going to be fighting that on her behalf.”