According to court documents, Christopher Pray’s daring escape from the Oregon State Hospital last year marked the end of a two-year campaign of chaos and robberies that left one man dead and one woman gravely injured.
Pray was sentenced on Monday to 22 years in state prison for a number of offenses, including a deadly shooting case against him that wasn’t unsealed until three days before to the plea agreement. Pray’s 36-hour escape attempt ended with him buried in mud and returned to jail.
The 39-year-old entered a no contest plea to one count of first-degree manslaughter in connection with the December 2021 death of 30-year-old Silas High Hawk, who was discovered dead in a car that collided with a power pole in the Cully neighborhood.
According to investigators, during a dispute inside the car, Pray shot High Hawk once in the thigh. According to a Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office representative, the shooting was unintentional.
After being deemed unable to face trial for allegedly shooting a woman once in the stomach for refusing to surrender her possessions during a strong-arm robbery outside her home on March 12, 2022, Pray was admitted to the state hospital in August 2023.
After being taken to a hospital in Salem for injuries he received in a battle in August, he managed to get away. The keys were left in the ignition of an unmarked van driven by an orderly who was taking him back to the state hospital grounds. In spite of being shackled and handcuffed, Pray was able to slide into the driver’s seat.
He fled in the van to Portland, where he attempted to cross Force Lake near the abandoned city of Vanport but was stranded overnight and rescued by firefighters.
In February, Circuit Judge Nan Waller of Multnomah County determined that he was mentally competent to stand trial.
Pray entered a guilty plea to attempted murder and first-degree assault in connection with the heist, in addition to the manslaughter charge.
Additionally, he entered a no guilty plea to first-degree robbery on March 21, 2022, after a security officer attempted to stop him from leaving the Auto Zone store on North Lombard Street with unpaid products and he fired a revolver through the glass door.
Pray also entered a guilty plea to one count of first-degree criminal mischief and no contest to second-degree assault of another woman he was dating for scraping away at the concrete frame of his jail cell window at Multnomah County Detention Center in June 2023 with a piece of metal.
The punishment was handed down by Circuit Judge Andrew Lavin.
For The Oregonian/OregonLive, Zane Sparling reports on court proceedings and breaking news. You may contact him at [email protected], 503-319-7083, or pdxzane.
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