PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV/Gray News) – A man has been charged with manslaughter after his partner was found dead outside of their home, according to police.

On Friday, Dec. 13 at about 4:40 a.m., deputies responded to a report of an unresponsive woman near the road outside a house in the 20500 block of Southwest Edy Road in Sherwood.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene when deputies arrived. The woman was identified as 64-year-old Mary McDowell, who lived in the home she was found outside of.

At the scene, deputies took her partner, 38-year-old Jose Lucase Morfin Jr., into custody.

On Dec. 20, a Washington County grand jury heard the evidence of the case and charged Morfin Jr. with the manslaughter in the first degree, two counts of assault in the second degree, abuse of a corpse in the second degree, unlawful use of a weapon and felon in possession of a firearm.

It’s not currently clear exactly how McDowell died.

McDowell’s family provided a statement after her death:

“As a family, we are deeply saddened by the circumstances surrounding the death of our beloved Mary Longway McDowell… She helped so many people throughout her lifetime, and we are asking the public to help her now. If you have any information or had contact with her individually or encountered her with her partner, Jose Lucas Morfin Jr. in recent years, please reach out to the detectives assigned to this case. Details that you might not think are important could be very helpful to gain a greater understanding of what led up to her death.”

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