The case grew from an initial report of an accidental shooting into a second-degree assault conviction after a two-year investigation and trial.

BEAVERTON, Ore. — A 20-year-old Oregon man has been sentenced to 70 months in state prison after a jury convicted him of second-degree assault for shooting his 16-year-old girlfriend in the abdomen at his Beaverton home, closing a case that began when he called 911 and described the shooting as accidental.

Sky Alexander Korbut was 18 when police were called to a residence on Southwest Prairie Terrace shortly before 5 a.m. on Nov. 21, 2024. According to the Beaverton Police Department, Korbut told emergency dispatchers that he had accidentally shot his girlfriend. Officers found the teenager seriously wounded and had her taken to a hospital. Korbut was initially arrested on third-degree assault and unlawful possession of a firearm charges. But detectives later said evidence gathered during the investigation, including statements from the injured girl, contradicted his version of events. A Washington County grand jury eventually indicted him on second-degree assault and the firearm count. After a weeklong trial in April 2026, jurors convicted him of both charges.

The sentence announced by police in August reflects the seriousness Oregon law assigns to second-degree assault. State law generally sets a 70-month minimum term for that offense under Oregon’s mandatory-minimum sentencing structure. The punishment means the legal focus has shifted from Korbut’s first explanation of an unintended discharge to the jury’s finding that the evidence proved the more serious assault charge beyond a reasonable doubt. Police did not announce a separate finding about motive, and the available public record does not establish that the shooting had been planned. What it does establish is that investigators continued working after the first arrest, obtained additional information and presented a different account to prosecutors and ultimately to a jury.

The shooting happened after the girl went to Korbut’s home while trying to get a ride home, according to court information cited in news reports. The two were in his room, where Korbut had a Smith & Wesson handgun. Reports citing court records said the gun had been placed on or near a dog kennel as Korbut cleaned. When he showed or moved the firearm, the teenager objected to having it near her. Prosecutors said she pushed or slapped it away shortly before she was shot. Those details became important because they differed from the account Korbut gave authorities about how the weapon discharged. The public record does not support adding a motive beyond the sequence described in court reporting, and authorities have not said the shooting followed any broader plan.

Korbut told investigators he believed he had removed the magazine and described moving or waving the handgun when it fired, according to court documents reported by local and national news outlets. He also told authorities he had obtained the gun illegally from someone “on the street” after failing background checks. Police initially handled the shooting under a less serious assault charge. That early decision did not end the inquiry. Beaverton police later said detectives developed additional evidence, including the teenager’s own statements, that conflicted with Korbut’s account. That change in the evidence led to the grand jury indictment for second-degree assault, a charge carrying consequences far beyond those Korbut faced immediately after his arrest.

While detectives worked to determine what happened, the teenager was enduring a medical crisis. Her mother told KPTV in the days after the shooting that the girl underwent a series of operations and spent days in intensive care. Court information later cited by Law&Crime said the bullet injured multiple internal organs and that the teenager required a massive amount of blood during treatment. Her family was warned at one point that she might not survive. By Nov. 26, 2024, however, her mother said doctors had declared her stable after several surgeries. She remained sedated at that stage, and her family was preparing for what they expected would be a lengthy recovery.

The first indication the girl’s mother received that something had gone badly wrong came through a few brief messages from her daughter’s phone. Screenshots later publicized by news outlets showed the teenager writing, “I got shot,” followed by messages including “Mama,” “Plz” and “Help me.” Her mother had been trying to determine where she was and had sent a message indicating she expected her daughter to be on her way home. The mother later told KPTV she woke to the message saying her daughter had been shot but could not immediately reach her because the phone was off. She began contacting hospitals and eventually learned that her daughter had been taken to Oregon Health & Science University for emergency care.

Those messages provided an immediate record of the teenager’s condition in the moments after the gunfire, but the criminal case ultimately turned on a broader collection of evidence. Police have not publicly released a complete trial transcript or a detailed account of every exhibit jurors considered. The department has said, however, that the victim’s statements were among the evidence that contradicted Korbut. The distinction matters because the first public narrative in November 2024 centered on an accidental shooting. By the time the case reached trial in April 2026, prosecutors were asking jurors to convict Korbut of second-degree assault. The guilty verdict shows jurors accepted the state’s proof on that charge rather than leaving the case at the level of the original arrest.

The teenager’s mother spoke publicly during the early medical crisis about both relief and anger. She said the girl’s condition had repeatedly moved between promising and frightening developments during surgery, and she described the shooting as something that should not have happened. At the time, doctors were beginning the process of reducing the teenager’s sedation, while relatives hoped she could eventually return home. Early reports said the family expected her recovery to be measured in months or years rather than days. Later police announcements about Korbut’s conviction and sentence did not provide a detailed update on the girl’s current medical condition, and no more recent official prognosis was included in the sentencing announcement.

Korbut’s prosecution also illustrates how the legal characterization of a violent event can change as investigators collect evidence. Police did not begin with the offense that eventually produced his prison term. They arrested him on third-degree assault and unlawful firearm possession after responding to the emergency call. Detectives then interviewed people, reviewed the circumstances and obtained statements from the teenager after she survived her injuries. That work led prosecutors to present the case to a grand jury, which returned the second-degree assault charge. The matter then proceeded to a weeklong jury trial rather than ending with the original allegations or Korbut’s first account. The April verdict resolved the factual dispute for purposes of the criminal case, with jurors finding him guilty on both counts.

Under Oregon law, second-degree assault is among the offenses subject to a 70-month mandatory minimum in qualifying cases. The Oregon statute provides that a person sentenced under the provision generally must serve at least the specified term and cannot receive an ordinary reduction of that minimum. Beaverton police said a Washington County Circuit Court judge imposed the 70-month sentence in late July 2026 and that Korbut would serve it in the Oregon Department of Corrections. Authorities described the sentence as the culmination of a case that started with the early-morning 911 call nearly two years earlier.

The sentencing resolves the principal criminal charges stemming from the November 2024 shooting. Police have not announced additional defendants or charges connected to the incident, and the department’s sentencing notice did not identify another pending criminal proceeding. The teenager survived injuries that her family initially feared could be fatal, while Korbut now faces nearly six years in state custody following the jury’s guilty verdicts.

Author note: Last updated September 21, 2026.