A Salem man will spend 25 years in prison for killing a man from a rival gang near the state fairgrounds in 2023.

Michael R. Solis, 21, of Salem, was sentenced Monday for the death of Steven M. Hill, 34, who was shot and killed at the intersection of Northeast Silverton Road and Northeast 17th Street more than two years ago.

Marion County Circuit Judge Jodie Bureta sentenced Solis to 20 years for first-degree manslaughter and five years for unlawful use of a weapon for Hill’s death.

Solis pleaded guilty to the charges July 25 in exchange for the dismissal of three misdemeanor charges for unlawful firearm possession, court records show.

Bureta sentenced him to five years for unlawfully using a weapon, which he will serve consecutively with the manslaughter sentence.

Following his arrest, Solis was initially charged with second-degree murder, court records show. But last month, the court swapped the murder charge for a manslaughter charge, which Solis pleaded guilty to the same day.

“This resolution was reached at the request of the victim’s family. Although Solis was initially charged with murder, the family’s priority was a guaranteed conviction that would not be overturned on appeal,” Marion County Deputy District Attorney Brendan Murphy said in a statement Monday.

Solis will not have the chance for parole during his sentence, Murphy added.

“This sentence ensures the same minimum incarceration length as murder and acknowledges Mr. Solis taking accountability for his actions,” Murphy said. “Most importantly, it provides Mr. Hill’s loved ones with a measure of justice and peace.”

On July 1, 2023, Hill was found on a sidewalk near the Oregon State Fairgrounds bleeding from a gunshot wound, the Salem Police Department said at the time.

Passersby tried to give lifesaving care, but responders declared Hill dead shortly after being dispatched around 7 p.m., according to police.

Investigators found that Solis and Hill did not know each other before the shooting, according to a Monday statement from the Marion County District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors now say they were affiliated with rival gangs — Solis to the 18th street gang and Hill to a Native American gang.

Police arrested Solis in connection to the shooting over two weeks after Hill’s death, Salem Reporter previously reported.

Officers connected Solis to the shooting after arresting him for his involvement in a fight at the St. Paul Rodeo July 4 and a gun fell from his pants, the Marion County District Attorney’s Office said. 

Officers tested the gun and identified it was the one used to shoot Hill, according to the statement. Solis was released and arrested again over a week later.

Solis has been in custody at the Marion County Jail since his arrest for the shooting.

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Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].

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