Student & singer Amara Marluke, 19, ‘killed by football star boyfriend after they broke up multiple times’, family says
COLLEGE freshman Amara Marluke was tragically killed by on-and-off-again boyfriend Keenan Harpole in a shooting near Portland State University's campus this weekend, authorities said.
"This was not random," Amara's parents want the world to know. "This was domestic violence."
According to Amy and Bradley Marluke, the 19-year-old PSU music student had broken up with Harpole multiple times, but the relationship kept rekindling with Amara's hopes that she could change the football star's ways.
In one of her last Instagram posts, Amara hinted at unhappiness in her romantic relationship.
"Love is like a rose," she captioned a of a bouquet of dying roses.
Harpole, 20, is said to have turned himself in to cops after Amara's body was found near the university's dorms in the early hours of Monday.
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Freshman Harpole - the former running back for Portland State’s football squad - now faces charges including second-degree murder.
He was also charged with unlawful use of a weapon and domestic violence charges, police said. He remains jailed without bond as of Wednesday.
Amara's parents told The Sun that she was so much more than just a victim of domestic violence: she was a singer, an activist, a martial artist, and a driven student.
"She was the brightest light in the room," Amy Marluke said. "You couldn't help but fall in love with her."
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Her mourning adoptive parents said that the singer faced "so many challenges" growing up, as she was put into foster care at age six before joining their family three years later.
"She had a bad rap and some bad grades in school," Amy explained. "But she fought and caught up. She worked tirelessly to overcome her rough start."
Her father, Bradley, recalled how Amara's passion for activism sparked her to serve on her high school's Black Student Union before becoming the co-president of PSU's Black Student Union as a first-year student.
"She led a march in the pouring rain as sleet was coming down sideways, and thousands still showed up to march," Bradley said of a rally that Amara led for justice for George Floyd in the summer of 2020.
"She had a way of bringing people together."
A CAMPUS IN MOURNING
The university is also mourning the tragic loss, as students and faculty members share the impact that Amara's life had on so many.
"Amara was an artist and an activist and a vibrant member of our community," PSU President Stephen Percy said in a .
"I am profoundly affected by the sheer tragedy of this loss. My heart breaks for Amara’s family and for everyone who knew her."
PSU confirmed that Amara had been a scholarship recipient in the College of the Arts in the Sonic Arts and Music Production program.
"She was just starting out in her academic career at PSU, but her enormous artistic potential and musicality were evident to everyone she interacted with," School of Music and Theater Director Bonnie Miksch said.
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"Amara brought her passionate commitment to social justice to her art practice, using her music as a vehicle for her activism and the movement for Black Lives."
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A for Amara's family has raised over $7,500 as of Wednesday.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or chat at .
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