PAIGE CAVETT - 2 yo - / Charged: Father, Joshua R. Cavett - Gresham, OR

2-year-old safe, dad arrested following shooting, Amber Alert

By Hillary Lake KATU News and KATU.com Staff
Published: Oct 12, 2013 at 3:15 PM PDT
Last Updated: Oct 14, 2013 at 3:28 PM PDT


»Play Video Joshua R. Cavett in his booking photo after he was found on foot with his daughter in Gresham Saturday night.
Photos »


An Amber Alert was issued earlier in the day after a woman was critically injured in a shooting and the suspect left the scene with his 2-year-old daughter.

The shooting happened around 11:30 a.m. at the Holly Ridge apartments in the 2700 block of West Powell Boulevard in Gresham.

About 10 hours later, 36-year-old Joshua R. Cavett, the suspect in the shooting, was taken into custody after two people recognized him from the Amber Alert and called 9-1-1. Cavett was on foot with his daughter in the 1500 block of Southwest Pleasant View Drive in Gresham. The girl was unharmed.

Cavett's estranged wife, 27-year-old Jessie Cavett, was the shooting victim. She had filed for divorce from her husband in August, weeks after she filed a restraining order against him. Her husband did not have legal custody of their daughter.

Jessie Cavett suffered a life-threatening injury and is now hospitalized. Lt. Claudio Grandjean with the Gresham Police Department said she is "clinging to life."

Joshua Cavett has an extensive criminal history, was described as being "anti police" and has also had three restraining orders issued against him from three different women, including the latest one from his estranged wife.

One of Cavett's former neighbors, who did not wish to be identified, said Cavett and his wife fought on a regular basis when they lived together in Molalla.

"They were very volatile," she said. "Alcohol included. They were very bad."

"It was on a regular weekend basis we'd have profanity screamed across the streets," she added. "We were all talking about going to the association to get them kicked out because it was so bad."

Police said Joshua Cavett is also a member of a notorious motorcycle gang, the Gypsy Jokers, who have had a reputation in the past for their involvement in criminal activity.

Cavett has been charged with first-degree assault and attempted murder. He is being held on $500,000 bail.

http://www.katu.com/news/local/Man-2-year-old-daughter-sought-after-shooting-227532451.html

Key Gresham Amber Alert murder witness found

Posted on October 15, 2013 at 4:51 PM
Updated today at 5:27 PM

GRESHAM, Ore. -- Police said a Portland woman who may have witnessed the deadly shooting of a Gresham mother last weekend has been found. 

Jessie Cavett was home with her two young daughters Saturday when Joshua Cavett grabbed one of them and took off, sparking an Amber Alert. 

Gresham police said they believe 23-year-old Keshia Moritz (pictured) witnessed the episode.

Moritz called police Tuesday, according to Lt. Claudio Grandjean of the Gresham Police Department. Grandjean said they have not yet interviewed Moritz.  

Josh Cavett surrendered Saturday night and was jailed. He faces murder and assault charges. The 2-year-old girl was not injured.

Jessie Cavett died Sunday evening at Oregon Health & Science University from a gunshot wound to the head.

More: Mother in Gresham Amber Alert case has died


http://www.kgw.com/news/Police-seek-witness-in-Gresham-Amber-Alert-murder-227660041.html

on October 12, 2013 at 6:25 PM, updated October 12, 2013 at 6:57 PM
Paige Cavett

Text of Amber Alert for Paige Cavett:

At 1137am today, 2 year old Paige C. Cavett was abducted from the area of 2700 W Powell Blvd., Gresham, OR. She was last seen in the company of her biological father, Joshua R Cavett. No suspect vehicle information available at this time. Joshua Cavett is a WMA, 36 yo, last seen wearing a black puffy jacket, black pants and a backpack. He has multiple tattoos on face/neck/arms/chest/back. He is considered armed and dangerous.. Please Contact GRESHAM POLICE DEPT at 5037617911.

http://www.oregonlive.com/gresham/index.ssf/2013/10/text_of_amber_alert_for_paige.html

Joshua Cavett arraigned on a 13-count indictment in wife's killing



Joshua Cavett, when he appeared at his initial arraignment last week in Multnomah County Circuit Court. (The Oregonian)

October 22, 2013 at 10:51 AM, updated October 22, 2013 at 1:58 PM
Joshua Re Cavett returned to Multnomah County Circuit Court Tuesday morning to be arraigned on a 13-count grand jury indictment.

The indictment charges him with three counts of aggravated murder with a firearm, three counts of first-degree burglary with a firearm, one count each of second-degree custodial interference, murder with a firearm, and unlawful use of a firearm, three counts of felon in possession of a firearm and one count of felon in possession of body armor.

The aggravated murder charges allege the killing was committed in the course of burglary. The indictment identifies three theories of first-degree burglary: that entry into Jessie Cavett's home occurred during the course of custodial interference, the use of a firearm and commission of a homicide, the indictment alleges.

No plea was entered. A trial date has been set for Dec. 4.
 
Joshua Cavett, 36, is accused of shooting his wife, Jessie Doyle Cavett, 27, in the head and then abducting their 2-year-old daughter, Paige, from his wife's Gresham apartment on Oct. 12, triggering an Amber Alert. Jessie Cavett was pronounced dead at OHSU Hospital.

Gresham police said that two people recognized Joshua and Paige Cavett about 8:50 p.m. that night from the Amber Alert information. They were near a Gresham apartment complex in the 1500 block of Southwest Pleasant View Drive, about a mile from where Jessie Cavett was shot. Joshua Cavett was arrested without incident and his daughter was taken to a hospital as a precaution.

Jessie Doyle Cavett had obtained a restraining order against Joshua Cavett on Aug. 5. The couple also filed for a divorce in Multnomah County that month. Jessie Cavett had told Clackamas County Circuit Court officials that her estranged husband threatened to torture her by "tying me up to a chair to peel my skin off layer by layer," she wrote in her petition for a restraining order.


In the restraining order request, Jessie Cavett said her husband continued to harass her this past summer, saying he would give her a "hot shot," a drug injection that would kill her.

"He says he will hurt me or have me hurt by someone else that no one will ever know," she wrote. "He will not let me alone to be a mother."

In a probable cause affidavit released last week, prosecutors said police arrived to find Jessie Doyle lying near the front door of her apartment. Detectives removed her older daughter, Peyton, 5, from the scene.

View full size
Jessie Doyle CavettBella Institute School of Cosmetology

Before police got there, the girl had called a family friend and said – "Josh hurt Mommy, Josh shot Mommy," and the friend called 911, Deputy District Attorney Christine Mascal said in the affidavit.

Another man told Gresham police that Cavett had been at his apartment with a small child and a woman named "Keshia," Mascal said. Police recovered three firearms and ammunition there that belonged to Cavett, she said.

At 9 p.m. the night of the killing, police arrested Cavett without incident. They discovered a loaded firearm in his backpack, according to the affidavit.

During a search of the apartment where he had been, police located several firearms and a bulletproof vest. Police seized a 9 mm firearm, a .22-caliber loaded revolver, an unloaded .22-caliber revolver and a .357 Magnum revolver, according to the indictment.

Cavett told the arresting officer: "I'm not going to complain, I just (expletive) killed somebody," the prosecutor said.

Cavett remains in custody, held without bail at the Multnomah County Detention Center.

http://www.oregonlive.com/gresham/index.ssf/2013/10/joshua_cavett_pleads_not_guilt.html