When Amber Mikolas saw her father for the first time in four years, he was beaten and bruised, clinging to life in a hospital bed. He died soon after.
That was a year ago and Mikolas recently described her father Russell as a “64-year-old, disabled homeless man.” She recalled playing basketball with him as a kid, and his bouts with addiction.
On Thursday, the teenager who beat the man was convicted of second-degree murder.
According to court testimony on Thursday, Joshua D. Upton Jr., now 18, had attacked Mikolas on a Salem city street. He punched and kicked the victim so severely that he died from his injuries two and a half weeks later.
Upton, prosecuted as a juvenile, said Thursday he didn’t know why he did it.
He will serve the longest sentence available under juvenile law – seven years. Prosecutors said the Oregon Youth Authority could release him earlier.
Salem Reporter does not typically identify youth in criminal cases unless, as in this instance, they are adjudicated for murder.
During Thursday’s proceedings, Mikolas’ daughter was among the relatives who shared the impact of the loss of her father during the hearing.
As she spoke, sounds of muffled crying came from the court gallery.
According to Salem police, on June 29, 2023, then-17-year-old Upton attacked Mikolas on Northeast Sunnyview Road just off of Northeast Lancaster Drive. Witnesses called police at 4:30 p.m., reporting a young man punching and kicking the victim.
Mikolas was taken to Salem Hospital and later moved to a Portland hospital, where he died from his injuries on July 17, 2023.
His obituary described him as “a man of generous spirit and loving heart,” Born in San Joaquin, California, Mikolas moved to Oregon during his childhood and graduated from Scio High School.
Living on the streets, Mikolas looked much older than someone in their early 60s, Jolene Garland said in her July 2023 eulogy for Mikolas.
For three years, Garland was Mikolas’ advocate and friend. She watched him use his money to buy shoes and camping gear for others and pay for friends’ car repairs. When he’d rent a motel room, he welcomed his friends to wash up and spend time together.
“Russell had his own reasons to live on the streets, but as he often told me, he didn’t want to die on the streets,” Garland wrote in her eulogy. “And tragically, he lost his life, but he did not die on the streets.”
Family statements and court records document Mikolas’ struggles with the law throughout the years. His daughter said he battled with addiction and he had previous charges for possessing methamphetamine.
His criminal record dated to 1988, and ranged from criminal mischief to sexual abuse.
Mikolas’ nephew said in court his uncle was an abuser earlier in his life, but was also loving and like a father to him.
Amber Mikolas said her father distanced himself from the family, feeling guilty over past behavior.
Mikolas’ daughter and nephew said they wanted Upton to use his time at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility to take classes and seek counseling. They both wished a brighter future for him, one they said Mikolas would have wanted for the teenager.
After statements from family and lawyers, Upton rose to speak. The lanky teenager stood with restraints around his wrists and ankles, over a light gray sweatsuit. He had some supporters in the courtroom.
Upton read from a piece of paper, speaking quickly and evenly for most of his statement. He turned to face the victim’s family to apologize to them and Mikolas.
After one year clean and sober, he said he’d now do that day differently. He said he had no reason for why he beat Mikolas.
“I don’t know myself,” Upton said. He began to cry at the end of his statement.
Circuit Judge Lindsay Partridge later said he hoped the teenager’s tears were from empathy and not from receiving the sentence.
The sentence was a point of tension.
Upton could have been charged as an adult, but a state law in 2019 changed sentencing for those 15 to 17. Upton’s lawyers requested that he be tried as a juvenile in accordance with that law, which applies to certain criminal offenses including murder.
Judge Partridge approved their request, which dropped the waiver that would have sentenced him as an adult.
“The decision to remove the waiver for this case was really gut-wrenching, for me and for the rest of my office,” Marion County Deputy District Attorney Tim O’Donnell said.
O’Donnell, who works in the district attorney’s juvenile division, said Upton’s case was one of the hardest he has worked on in his career. O’Donnell wiped tears from his eyes in the courtroom while listening to Mikolas’ family speak.
“I’ve never seen a teen commit such a brutal, violent” act, O’Donnell said, in comparing this case to others, particularly gang violence involving youth.
O’Donnell said he believed Upton should have received a 25-year sentence instead of being released at age 25.
The judge echoed O’Donnell, saying the day Upton beat Mikolas wasn’t because of the teenager’s substance use.
“There’s something else going on there,” Partridge said.
After that day last June, Upton underwent a psychological exam. O’Donnell said the results were vague as Upton’s brain wasn’t fully developed due to his age.
“It’s beyond me to figure out what could’ve been going through your head that day,” Partridge said to Upton. He said the teenager had a “complete lack of empathy for another human being.”
CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to clarify the length of Upton’s sentence.
Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].
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Madeleine Moore is working as a reporter at Salem Reporter through the University of Oregon’s Charles Snowden internship program. She came to Salem after graduating from the University of Oregon in June 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
