Outrage after Portland killer smirks at family, friends of slain cab driver: 'Nothing but excuses'

The former colleague of a slain Portland cab driver spoke out Friday about his friend's murder, slamming the convicted killer for providing "nothing but excuses" and even smirking at the victim's family in court. 

Darin Campbell previously worked with Reese Lawhon, who was stabbed to death during a ride in April 2023. The killer, 30-year-old Moses Jacob Lopez, reportedly killed Lawhon after the pair arrived at an incorrect address during the ride. 

Lopez, who identifies as transgender, accepted a plea deal for the stabbing and was sentenced to 22 years behind bars. Campbell said Lopez did not show remorse at the sentencing hearing to Lawhon's family and friends.

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"He went on for 12 full minutes of nothing but excuses, and never an apology, and we came out of the courtroom extraordinarily angry," Campbell told Carley Shimkus during "Fox & Friends First." 

"There was just a handful of friends and co-workers who were in the courtroom, and it was just dumbfounding."

"I'm one of just a handful of people outside of the detectives and the DA's office that actually saw the video and witnessed the murder," he continued. 

"And it is horrific. It's something that I see every single day when I wake up in the morning, and there was… no need for that kind of violence, and this is something that, Moses got off on. I firmly believe that. I see his face every day."

Reese Lawhon was stabbed to death while driving a cab on Easter Sunday in 2023.  (Darin Campbell, 'Fox & Friends First' screengrab)

Lopez was seen smirking in the courtroom Wednesday as the sentence was handed down.

"I refuse to apologize for the lack of help I so desperately needed and called and asked for from 911 services," said Lopez. 

Lawhon's family told FOX 12 that they decided to accept the plea deal because they did not want to have to endure a trial. 

Campbell argued the defense team's portrayal of Lopez's 911 call was "very misleading." Lopez claimed to be having a mental health episode that prompted the call to 911.

"That 911 call is frustrating because they make it sound like he called asking for mental health treatment," Campbell said.

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Reese Lawhon, a Portland cab driver, was brutally stabbed to death in April 2023.  (Portland Police Bureau, KPTV)

"[The ride] started, in a very popular, clubbing area in downtown and ended up in a warehouse district, and it was about a seven-minute trip. There wasn't a single word spoken until they got down there," Campbell said, adding that Lawhon was then told by Lopez that it was the wrong location.  

"You can see Reese put another address into his GPS and begin to drive. They were starting to move, and out of nowhere, [Lopez] just pulls a knife and sticks it in his neck."

The New York Post reported Lopez's legal team blamed a tumultuous upbringing and being forced to leave home at a very young age as excuses for the crime.

Carley Shimkus noted that Lawhon, who was adopted and remembered as a caring and talented musician, was set to meet his biological parents before he was killed. 

Bailee Hill is an associate editor with Fox News Digital. Story ideas can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.