A 45-year-old man has been sentenced to six years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to wounding another man outside the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church early on March 31.

Muhammad Bilal Rahman

Muhammed Bilal Rahman, 45, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and felon in possession of a firearm in the shooting of Kevin Hays, 32. Both men were homeless at the time of the shooting.

Hays was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of the shooting, according to Multnomah County deputy district attorney Melissa Marrero.

Witnesses said Hays was shot in the back about 5 a.m. near a makeshift homeless camp of tents that lined the sidewalk on Southeast Pine Street, squeezed between the church and the Escuela Viva preschool. The shooting spurred outrage at the lack of homeless camp enforcement by the city.

Rahman, who has an extensive criminal record including convictions for theft, possession of controlled substances, assault, robbery and felon in possession of a firearm, initially was charged with first-degree assault with a firearm in the March shooting.

He was sentenced by Multnomah County Circuit Judge Michael A. Greenlick on May 26.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian