“Love thy neighbor.”
That’s the message family and friends hope to spread after the loss of a beloved Oregon server and aspiring restaurateur who they say was killed for defending his LGBTQ friend from harassment.
“The number one thing we just want to stress to people is not to promote the fear of not sticking up for people, but love thy neighbor and stick up for people,” Danielle Smith, sister of Colin M. Smith, who was killed on July 2, explains.
In the days following the 32-year-old man’s death, his loved ones have shared their memories of him, highlighting how dedicated he was to being a caregiver in all aspects of his life and to always fighting for what was right.
“I think Colin, just in general, has always had really strong values around supporting the underdog, just looking out for people who maybe got overlooked,” says Paulina Solis, 34, Smith’s ex-girlfriend and close friend.
In the hours prior to his death, Smith had finished a late-night shift at OX Restaurant in Northeast Portland and went out for a drink with co-workers, something Solis claims he does often on weekends.
Smith and his friends — one of whom Solis says identifies as non-binary — had gone to The High Dive, a bar in Southeast Portland’s Buckman neighborhood. There, a man allegedly approached the group and made homophobic comments and inappropriately touched and shoved two of them, Solis alleges.
That’s when Smith stepped in to try and de-escalate the situation, Solis says. But in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
According to a press release from the Portland Police Bureau, Smith had been stabbed and was pronounced dead at the scene around 2 a.m. Authorities have identified the suspect as 24-year-old Rahnique U. Jackson, who was arrested on July 7.
He was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon. It is unclear if he has entered a plea to the charges against him or retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
Jackson has not been charged with a hate crime, but Solis believes his killing stemmed from bigotry.
“We want people to know that this stemmed from a hate crime, and Colin was there to, of course, stand up for his friend,” she says.
‘He Put Others’ Needs Before His Own’
Solis, who met Smith in 2020, says he loved to host dinner parties and aspired to one day open a restaurant.
“He was always such a great cook,” Solis shares. “His passion was cooking, and I can’t tell you how many wonderful meals we made together, how many dinner parties he threw for his friends.”
She noted that Smith had a love of animals, especially his cat, Smokey.
He loved people too, Solis says.
“When I went out to eat with Colin or when we went out into public, I feel like he always took time to just really genuinely connect with people, whether it be servers, I mean, especially the service industry workers, your grocery store clerks, homeless people,” she recalls.
“Colin saw people as people,” Solis says.
Smith’s mother adds how her only son was “humble, simple and grounded in the light of goodness and love.”
“I lost my boy when he was defending a friend,” Julie Smith wrote in a statement to PEOPLE. “A quick action that was spontaneous and innate to his selfless character.”
Smith’s sister, who lives in England, says that as shocking as her brother’s death was, she is grateful to have spent week with him before the tragedy.
“I hadn’t seen him for a year and a half because of immigration stuff and Covid,” Danielle Smith, 34, tells PEOPLE. “I’m just so blessed that I got to have that time with him.”
Greg Denton, Smith’s colleague and owner of OX Restaurant is fundraising for the server’s family on a GoFundMe campaign that has raised more than $20,000 as of July 13.
“Colin embodied the true definition of hospitality,” Denton said in a statement to PEOPLE. “Without thought, he put others’ needs before his own, whether that was picking up a shift for a coworker, bringing the kitchen employees beverages on a hot night in the kitchen, or making a guest feel that they were in kind, knowledgeable, and friendly hands.”
“His presence at Ox will continue to live on, and his time here will forever inspire waves of compassion and positivity amongst us,” the statement ends.
Instead of focusing on the tragedy, Solis and other loved ones hope that sharing Smith’s story will serve as an example of his tolerance and giving spirit.
“We want people to change,” Solis tells PEOPLE. “We want people to intentionally be good and kind to others. “Something good has to come of this.”
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