This story was originally published by The Oregonian/OregonLive and is reprinted with permission.

The horror-obsessed Salem teen convicted in the rape and murder of 13-year-old Milana Li on Mothers Day 2022, was sentenced to a lifetime in prison Monday — even as authorities warned that the bars holding Daniel Gore could be paper thin, depending on how juvenile laws are interpreted.

After hearing two weeks of evidence, a Washington County jury needed less than 90 minutes last month to convict Gore, now 18, of first-degree rape, murder and sexual abuse in a case prosecutors said was perhaps “the most horrific” crime committed locally in 20 years.

“Juvenile justice reform has already given the defendant substantial breaks; this court does not need to give the defendant any additional chances to hurt our community,” Senior Deputy District Attorney John Gerhard said ahead of sentencing.

Circuit Judge Ricardo Menchaca agreed, saying he would impose the maximum sentence allowed under law: life in prison, with the possibility of parole in 38 years and four months.

But reforms passed by lawmakers in 2019 mean Gore will actually be eligible for parole in 15 years. Additionally, a “second look” hearing that allows young defendants to seek sentence reductions halfway through their punishment could be allowed as soon as 7½ years from now.

Gore was a 16-year-old runaway from Salem when he lured Li, a student at Conestoga Middle School, into the woods behind the Progress Ridge shopping center. Gore strangled Li to death — in effect killing the only witness to his sex crimes — then dragged her body into a creek and concealed her under a tarp.

He attempted to establish an alibi by texting mutual friends that he got drunk and parted ways with Li earlier on May 8, but surveillance footage and cellphone data contradicted that story.

Assel Li, her mother, came home from a night shift and initially believed her older daughter was already at school. She soon learned the truth and reported her missing. The ensuing search and recovery of Li’s body happened even as Beaverton police officers closed in on Gore, who was arrested two days later.

Assel Li said her daughter hoped to work with children someday, inspired by the time she spent watching over a younger sister who is now 8.

“She asks me, ‘Why does Milana have to become an angel so early?’ I have no answers,” Assel Li said. “Only god knows what it cost me just to stay alive.”

Gore is one of the few juvenile defendants in Oregon to be tried in adult court since state lawmakers enacted the 2019 reforms. He will begin his sentence in the Oregon Youth Authority detention center.

Diary entries and Gore’s statements to police showed his obsession with serial killers and the horrorcore artist 7vxn. Gore asked to wear a white skull mask associated with the rapper while police swabbed him for DNA evidence, saying he felt “really comfortable with it” on, according to a memo written by prosecutors. His girlfriend, Eva Camera, told investigators Gore had a “blood kink.”

Defense attorney J. Mark Lawrence argued in a sentencing memo that Gore had an IQ closer to a 9-year-old at the time of the killing, citing a psychologist examination.

Judge Menchaca, who continued to ban media cameras from the courtroom during the sentencing hearing, dismissed the defense’s argument, saying Gore’s responses during a police interview suggested he “was fully engaged.”

Menchaca said the case was a failure of parenting, the juvenile justice system that let Gore out of custody on pending theft and arson charges, allowing him to abscond, and the lyrical content of 7xvn. The judge even suggested that Assel Li sue the artist.

He questioned how Gore was allowed to live in a tent in the middle of suburban Beaverton in a grove known as a popular teenage hangout. More action should have been taken than merely hoping Gore would wise up, he said.

“People just hoped — hoped! — that you’d get the light on. Instead we have a dead young lady,” Menchaca said. “It’s my intent that Mr. Gore never walks the streets of this community again.”

Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083, [email protected] or @pdxzane.

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