Three defendants face different charge sets after investigators said an unhoused man was abducted, beaten and left fatally injured in a vacant house.
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — Prosecutors in southern Oregon are dividing a fatal beating case into distinct alleged roles after charging three people in the death of Kolton Esparza, an unhoused man whom police say was kidnapped, attacked and left in a vacant Klamath Falls house with injuries that later killed him.
The charge lists reveal how the state appears to see the case. Reggie L. Townsend Jr. faces the most serious and expansive set: first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, tampering with evidence, unlawful use of a weapon and felon in possession of a firearm. Wesley J. Powless was charged with second-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree assault and tampering with evidence. Jamie S. Harrington was reported charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Even before a trial, that split tells the public something about how investigators are sorting blame, with Townsend portrayed as the central actor, Harrington tied to transport and planning, and Powless accused of participation serious enough to support homicide and assault counts but not the top murder charge filed against Townsend.
Only after those charges were filed did the broader outline of the case become public. Officers responded at about 10:52 a.m. on Feb. 26 to a welfare check at a vacant residence at 875 Cypress Ave. in Klamath Falls. A caller had reported that an unhoused man was inside, naked and appearing badly assaulted. Officers found Esparza in critical condition and rushed him to Sky Lakes Medical Center. After he was stabilized, he was transferred to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, where he later died. That death transformed what had begun as an assault investigation into a homicide case and brought in the Klamath County Major Crime Team, a joint group that includes city police, the sheriff’s office, state police and the district attorney’s office.
The kidnapping allegations appear to flow from what investigators say happened before Esparza was found. According to a probable cause affidavit described in public reporting, Harrington told police she picked up Townsend and two men, including Esparza, then drove them toward the Eulolona Trailhead. Esparza asked to be dropped off somewhere else, the affidavit says, but Harrington refused. After the group reached the trailhead, Harrington said the three men got out and began walking east on Cypress Avenue. About 10 minutes later, she said, she left and picked up two of the men on foot. Esparza was later found in a vacant residence directly east of the trailhead and on the same route, a geographic match detectives cited as they built the case.
The murder allegations, meanwhile, are anchored in both the physical condition of the victim and a statement police say Townsend made in writing. The affidavit says Esparza was found nude, severely beaten and showing signs of torture, with rope binding his wrists. It also says he suffered severe head trauma that caused his death. Then came the letter. Investigators said Townsend wrote to his girlfriend, “I beat Kolton with a rock and stomped him out with my shoes.” Publicly, that line has become the shorthand for the brutality alleged in the case, though a courtroom will eventually test how the letter was obtained, how it is authenticated and how it fits with any medical or forensic findings. At the charging stage, however, it gave prosecutors a vivid piece of alleged direct evidence.
The state’s weapons and evidence-tampering allegations add another layer. When Townsend was arrested late on Feb. 28 during a high-risk traffic stop, police said he had a .22 caliber rifle even though he was barred from possessing firearms as a convicted felon. Coverage of the case also said he had been released from prison in November 2025 after serving time for manslaughter. Days after that release, he posted on Facebook that he was “fresh outta prison” and “vibing” with family. Prosecutors may never need that post to prove the homicide case, but it has shaped how the case has been publicly understood, especially because it places Townsend back in the community only a few months before the killing allegations surfaced.
What happens next is more procedural than dramatic, but no less important. Early hearings will determine release status, probable cause, appointment of counsel, scheduling and the flow of evidence. Townsend was publicly reported as due for a preliminary hearing on March 9. Beyond that, the case is likely to turn on forensic records, witness credibility, the extent of Powless’ alleged involvement, and whether Harrington’s account remains aligned with the state’s timeline as the defense gets fuller access to discovery. Authorities have not publicly explained a motive, and they have not laid out a complete minute-by-minute account of the attack itself. Those gaps are normal this early, but they are also the parts of the case most likely to shape plea talks, suppression fights and any eventual trial narrative.
The prosecution’s theory is visible mainly through the charge split: one defendant accused as the primary killer, one as an accomplice in the fatal violence, and one as a driver whose alleged role may have started before the beating and continued after it.
Author note: Last updated March 31, 2026.