PORTLAND, Ore. — Almost three years ago, Margie Fletcher’s then 21-year-old son boarded a blue line MAX train on his way to work and was nearly killed.
Now, his accused attacker is getting ready to go before a jury and face a long list of charges, including attempted murder for Micah Fletcher’s injuries and two counts of first degree murder for the deaths of Ricky Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, the two men he allegedly stabbed to death.
Margie Fletcher is having a hard time believing the trial of Jeremy Christian will actually begin.
“It’s been a long three years,” she said via phone earlier this month. “I thought we would be over this way before now, but even when your kid is the one that lived, it doesn’t really seem to make a whole lot of difference. I don’t know. It’s been hard. It’s been long.”
Criminal proceedings have crawled since May 26, 2017, the day police said Christian delivered an angry, racist rant on board that MAX train, then stabbed three men who stood between him and two black teenage girls, one of whom is Muslim and was wearing a hijab.
The Portland-native’s attorneys moved that his charges be reduced from aggravated murder to first degree murder to eliminate the possibility of his being put to death.
They also argued for the case to be moved out of Multnomah County, under the rationale that local press coverage would negate any chance of Christian receiving a fair trial.
The judge granted the first request, but denied the second.
“I’m glad he didn’t get it taken out of Portland, you know, and [to] somewhere that was more friendly to him,” Margie said. “I thank God for that.”
Margie Fletcher spoke with KGW from her home because, she said, her health is fragile.
Her respiratory problems and other issues started around the time of the attack.
“I didn’t realize I was sick. I put it off a long time thinking it was just stress from that, and it wasn’t,” she said. “We didn’t really need anything new in the family, but… You know.”
Despite her condition, Margie Fletcher’s been paying close attention to the progress of the trial, including Christian’s defense: he pleaded not-guilty by way of mental disease or defect.
“Yeah, don’t even get me started on that. The guy was trying to murder someone for at least two straight days,” she said, referring to a separate incident the night before the stabbings, during which a Portland woman said Christian delivered a racist, threatening rant on board another MAX train. “So, it’s not true that he wasn’t planning on hurting someone. He was very much planning on hurting someone.”
Something else that frustrates her, she said, is the narrative she’s seen on social media that her son escalated the physical confrontation that led up to the stabbings.
According to a November 2017 psychological evaluation requested by Christian’s defense team, video of the incident, which has yet to be made public, shows Micah Fletcher pushing Christian onto a seat multiple times and telling him to get off the train.
Micah, through his mom, declined to comment for this story, but days after the incident he told KGW, “I got stabbed in the neck on my way to work randomly by a stranger for trying to be a nice person. I don't know what to do after that. I'm healing. That's what I'm doing.”
For Margie, the argument that her son is even remotely to blame for the carnage has been excruciating.
“There are those people that still say my son caused it. And if those people end up on the… I hope they don’t end up on the jury because it’s total bull, and I don’t want [Christian] to get any pity for something that's not true,” she said. “I think [Micah’s] just ready for it to be over. I mean, when you’re the only one left alive to demonize… It’s been a hard three years for him.”
Still, she’s not worried about perceptions like that tainting the jury pool, the selection of which begins Tuesday.
“I mean look. I don’t think there’s any way he’s going to get out of this. Let’s just face it. There’s just too much video. Everybody knows what happened. Even if my kid would have done something, this guy still killed two people,” she said. “My problem is the demonization and misery of my son for three years because of some idiot.”
Then Margie Fletcher paused, sighed and added, “I’m sorry. It’s been a bad three years.”
Heading into the trial, she added she’s become friends with the family of Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche.
She’s never, though, gotten to know Ricky Best’s loved ones.
KGW reached out to families of both men about how they’re feeling leading up to the trial but have not heard back.
For now, Margie Fletcher is sure of two things.
First, her son won’t face his accused attacker alone.
“I’m in a wheelchair. I’ll use a wheelchair on the days Micah has to be there,” she said. “We’re not planning on going the days he doesn’t have to be there, but he’s got to be there for I think three of the five days. We’ll be there for that.”
Second, she wants Christian to spend the rest of his life in prison.
After that, she doesn’t want to hear about him again.
“I only care that he’s not going to die. I’m not a big person on the death penalty. I just don’t want him to get out again. Ever,” she said. “I just want it to be over. And hopefully it will be. I mean, it’s just kind of… You know, does that ever end? Do you ever quit thinking about it? Will it ever not bother Micah? I mean, I don’t know… Good question.”
