PORTLAND, Maine — Editor's Note: The video above aired in 2018.
An arrest has been made in a 10-year-old murder case, the Portland Police Department announced Monday.
Abdi Awad was indicted by the Cumberland County Grand Jury on Friday and charged with the murder of Allen MacLean, who was killed in Portland on August 1, 2011.
MacLean, who was 41 at the time he was killed, was shot in the area of Congress Street and Massachusetts Avenue. Witnesses told the Portland Press Herald that MacLean was running, flailing his arms, and yelling, “I’m dying, I’m dying.” The case went uncharged for the next 10 years.
Portland Police Chief Frank Clark announced the arrest in a press conference on Monday. Awad, 35, was incarcerated at the Maine State Prison in Warren, serving a 25-year sentence on an elevated aggravated assault charge, according to the Maine Department of Corrections. His earliest release date would have been Aug. 18, 2021.
Portland police detectives went to the prison in Warren on Friday and served Awad with an arrest warrant for MacLean’s murder. Clark said Awad will remain in custody at the prison until he’s arraigned.
“I hope this arrest, coming on nearly the 10th anniversary of Allen’s death, will help bring some closure to his family and to his friends and will help bring some hope for the families of other victims,” Clark said during the press conference.
RELATED: Unsolved Homicides: Allen McLean
Clark said the department has been able to redistribute unsolved homicide cases and allocate additional resources towards cold case investigations.
“Like all of our unsolved cases, this one was not forgotten,” he said.
According to Clark, the department’s most serious cases have decreased by about 12% in 2020 compared to 2019, and the trend is continuing this year—down by a little more than 11% from 2020.
Thirteen homicides remain unsolved in Portland.
“I can assure you that we are committed to bringing closure to the families of those victims as well,” Clark said in a release. “Investigators are diligently continuing their work and we’re committed to holding those who are responsible for these deaths accountable for their actions.”
Police ask that anyone with information that could help solve any of these unsolved homicides call 207-874-8575. People can also leave an anonymous tip on the department’s crime tip line by calling 207-874-8584, or by texting “PPDME” to 847411.