A 20-year-old Beaverton man will spend nearly six years in prison for shooting his 16-year-old girlfriend inside a home on Southwest Prairie Terrace in November 2024.
Washington County Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Proctor sentenced Sky Alexander Korbut to 70 months (five years, 10 months) on Thursday, Aug. 6, after a jury convicted him of second-degree assault and unlawful possession of a firearm.
The sentence is the mandatory minimum under Oregon's Measure 11 for second-degree assault. Korbut will be transferred to the Oregon Department of Corrections to serve his time.
The shooting
Beaverton police responded to the SW Prairie Terrace home at approximately 4:55 a.m. on Nov. 21, 2024, after Korbut, then 18, called 911 to report he had accidentally shot his girlfriend, according to KPTV.
Officers found the victim, Naomi Briggs, with a gunshot wound to her abdomen. Before police arrived, Briggs had texted her mother: "I got shot Mama Plz help me," according to KGW, citing court documents.
She was rushed to Oregon Health & Science University Hospital with critical injuries. Doctors told her family there was a chance she might not survive. Briggs pulled through.
Investigation and trial
Korbut was initially arrested on lesser charges of third-degree assault and unlawful possession of a weapon. But detectives uncovered additional evidence, including statements from Briggs herself, that contradicted his account of an accidental shooting, the Beaverton Police Department said.
A Washington County grand jury indicted Korbut on the upgraded second-degree assault charge and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Court documents described the circumstances: Briggs had texted Korbut requesting a ride home and arrived at his house that night. Korbut had placed a firearm on a dog kennel in his bedroom and showed it to Briggs, who told him to get it out of her face and slapped it away. Seconds later, the gun discharged, hitting her in the abdomen.
At a weeklong jury trial in April, Korbut testified he had removed the magazine and was turning with the gun momentarily pointed in Briggs' direction when it fired. His defense argued his finger was not consciously on the trigger.
The jury found him guilty on both counts.
Sentencing
The defense filed a motion for a new trial, which Judge Proctor denied before imposing the sentence.
Second-degree assault carries a mandatory minimum of 70 months under Measure 11, the 1994 voter-approved law that requires judges to impose fixed sentences for listed violent crimes with no good-time reductions.
The Beaverton Valley Times first reported the sentencing Thursday.
Anyone with information about firearms-related crimes in Beaverton can contact the Beaverton Police Department at 503-526-2260.
