BEND — A Bend man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for accidentally shooting and killing a man while firing at a target near Mayfield Pond east of Bend last summer.

Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Wells Ashby announced Jesse Aaron Ray’s sentence at a hearing at the courthouse on Thursday, March 2. He pleaded no contest to the charge of criminally negligent homicide on Feb. 13 in the killing of Neil J. Martell at the pond, an area used for recreation and camping.

Ray’s sentence includes credit for time he served in jails in Deschutes County and Los Angeles County. He was also sentenced to 36 months of post-prison supervision.

Ray, 40, may not purchase or own a firearm ever again, according to court records. He is eligible for sentence reduction or early release programs.

On June 30, Ray was firing a gun at a berm on Bureau of Land Management land off Alfalfa Market Road — a location reportedly used for target practice — when one of his bullets accidentally struck Martell, who was camping about 100 yards behind the berm.

According to Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels, Ray did not check the area behind the berm to see if anyone was there. After he shot Martell, Ray quickly left the area and did nothing to try and help the 53-year-old, despite pleas from Martell’s friend, Martin Briley.

Gunnels said Ray was within the half-mile range near the pond where people are not allowed to fire a gun, and Martell was outside this range. He said this is not a criminal penalty, adding: “It’s not a charge we can file.”

Ray initially cooperated with a law enforcement investigation of the fatal shooting and was released after being ticketed for a Class B misdemeanor of negligent wounding, law enforcement officials have said.

Then, he left the country for a vacation, according to his defense attorney, Katherine Christine Griffith, though prosecutors had previously stated that they believed he fled because he knew charges were coming. He was arrested in November in the state of Tabasco in Mexico.

Ray had initially faced charges of first-degree manslaughter, but Gunnels said prosecutors could not prove Ray acted with the level of recklessness required to secure that conviction.

Gunnels said his office’s goal, then, was foremost to make sure that Ray could never own a gun ever again.

“He’s demonstrated that he’s not someone who’s responsible with firearms,” Gunnels said.

Gunnels said people who are out target shooting on public land or at a gun range should check and make sure no one is in the backdrop of their target.

“That was what (Ray) failed to do,” Gunnels said.

Ray declined to say anything in court before his sentence on Thursday.