NEWPORT — There will be a trial for the shooting death last year of Toledo teacher Tasha Rodriguez-Anderson after her husband Monday rejected a manslaughter plea agreement he initially accepted.
With a possible life sentence looming for Chris Anderson, 48, the turn of events even had the judge scratching her head.
Anderson is charged with shooting and killing Tasha Rodriquez-Anderson in the driveway of their Toledo home Oct. 4, later telling police he had not slept in days during a “meth binge.”
Anderson told police he had shot his wife and pleaded for officers to kill him, according to the probable cause affidavit filed later in Lincoln County circuit court. He said he used meth, was paranoid and that he shot at the car in their driveway because he thought he saw someone inside before he shot his wife.
Rodriguez-Anderson’s death shook the community of Toledo, which had not seen a homicide in 40 years. A teacher and mother of five, her loved ones described Rodriguez-Anderson as having a nurturing spirit who saw the best in people.
She became pen pals with Anderson while he was in prison in Florida and married him in April 2025, six months before her death.
Rodriguez-Anderson taught sixth grade from 2022-25 at Toledo Elementary School and coached middle school volleyball at Toledo Jr./Sr. High School. She was hired to work at Siletz Valley School at the start of the 2025 school year.
After her death, over 600 people turned out at a candlelight vigil in her memory, many of them youth from Toledo and surrounding communities.
“We bought up every candle from Toledo to Corvallis and it still wasn’t enough,” Toledo city manager Rich Huebner told the Lincoln Chronicle.
The city is now planning to hold a vigil every year for domestic violence victims that will be named after Rodriguez-Anderson.
“Someone the entire community loved so dearly was just gone overnight,” Toledo High student Jessica Robledo told the Chronicle. Rodriquez-Anderson was a “tough love” teacher who treated every student as worthy no matter what label had been prescribed to them as a student, Robledo said.
And it happened at the start of the school year. School was cancelled and when students came back they talked about what had happened to their former teacher and a space in the school counselor’s office to process their grief.
Originally charged with second-degree murder, Anderson was scheduled Monday to plead guilty to manslaughter and be sentenced to 12-13 years in prison and five years parole in a plea deal worked out with the Lincoln County District Attorney’s office.
In the weeks leading up to the hearing, Rodriguez-Anderson’s family members wrote to the court how she had moved from Idaho to Oregon, excited to build a new life. They said she loved her children fiercely, earning her the nickname “mommy bear”.
Rodriguez-Anderson had a big heart and believed in second chances, her family members wrote. That’s why she became Anderson’s pen pal when he was in prison.
“That is what makes this pain so unbearable. She was trying to help you,” an uncle wrote in one letter submitted to the court. “She saw someone she thought she could save, even after the violence and abuse you had already shown in your past.
“You had already hurt your first wife and unborn child, and instead of changing you destroyed another family,” according to a victims advocate letter in the case file.
Each of the three letters issued the same plea — that Anderson serve a life sentence.
Courtroom drama
Anderson arrived at Judge Sheryl Bachart’s courtroom from the county jail Monday afternoon handcuffed and surrounded by three guards. Those attending the court hearing — including Rodriguez-Anderson’s children — were asked not to sit in the front row.
In addition to the charges for killing Rodriguez-Anderson, Anderson is also charged with assault for attacking and injuring another man in jail.
Anderson was charged last October with second-degree murder, first-degree assault and being a felon in possession of a firearm, which could have resulted in a life sentence. On April 17, he agreed to plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter and the weapon possession charge and receive a prison sentence of 12-13 years. On Monday, he decided to back out of the deal.
Anderson argued that he did not receive all of the materials from his lawyer — mainly police records — before he took the deal. Had he had the records sooner, Anderson said he would not have taken the deal.
If Anderson rejected his plea, the state was under no obligation to offer it again, Bachart told him.
“I want a life sentence anyway,” Anderson said. “I want to proceed to trial. I hold myself accountable for what I did but I want the investigation to be done right.”
Bachart asked Anderson’s attorney Seth White if he could confirm whether the documentation was not available. After more than 20 minutes of calling his law office and then looking through Anderson’s tablet, it was determined that he did have access to the documents.
Anderson was still adamant that he withdraw his plea and Bachart explained the potential consequences — a trial and a possible life sentence with a minimum of 25 years in prison.
“I’m having a difficult time with his position as to what he hopes the outcome or the benefit of going to trial will be …,” Bachart said. “That doesn’t make any sense to the court. It’s just not logical.”
As he rose to leave the courtroom, Anderson shouted disparaging remarks about the Toledo Police Department. Bachart directed guards to bring him back into the room and told him that she was giving him a warning.
“You will not conduct yourself like that in my courtroom again …,” she said.
Bachart granted White’s request to withdraw as Anderson’s attorney, said she will appoint a new one and set a trial date.
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