Salem Man Sentenced For Shooting Death – KXL

SALEM, OR – A Salem man will serve 25 years in state prison without the possibility of parole for first degree manslaughter and unlawful use of a firearm.  Marion County Circuit Court Judge Jodie A. Bureta has sentenced Michael Ray Solis, 21, for the 2023 shooting death of Steven Michael Hill.

On July 1, 2023, Salem Police officers and medics responded to reports of a shooting on Silverton Road NE.  They found Steven Michael Hill, 34, dead from a gunshot wound. Witnesses told police they had seen three males running from the area, and surveillance video from nearby later confirmed those eye witness accounts. Eventually, Salem Police Detectives say they were able to identify Solis as one of the peoples present at the shooting.  Two witnesses identified Solis as the shooter, and he later confessed.

According to investigators, there was no prior known relationship between Solis and Hill, however Solis was associated with the 18^th Street Gang, while Hill had tattoos affiliated with a Native American, but often rival, gang.  No one else was charged in the killing.

Solis was arrested on July 4th, 2023, for being involved in a fight at the St. Paul Rodeo.  As Solis was being detained, Marion County Sheriff’s Deputy Jorge Ramirez told prosecutors that handgun fell from Solis’s pant leg.   That handgun was later tested and found to be the weapon used to shoot Hill three days earlier.  Solis was released on July 4th, but he arrested again on July 17th, 2023, after the investigation into Hill’s death provided sufficient evidence to charge him.