31-year-old man gets more than 7 years in prison for shooting man in Spokane

A 31-year-old man who shot at an occupied car, striking the passenger, last year in the Bemiss Neighborhood was sentenced last week to nearly 7½ years in prison.

Antoine Bailey pleaded guilty Feb. 6 to two counts of second-degree assault, including one that carried a firearm enhancement, according to court documents. Spokane County Superior Court Judge Tony Hazel then sentenced Bailey to 89 months in prison.

A man told police he was driving his friend in a silver Dodge Stratus around 7:30 p.m. May 2 and parked outside the El Estero Apartments, 2120 E. North Crescent Ave.

He said he saw a man he knows as “Bailey” sitting in the stairwell of the complex, court records say. Bailey yelled at the driver asking what he wanted and the driver said he was there for a woman.

Bailey then got up, ran toward the Dodge, produced a black handgun and fired two rounds, striking the car and his friend in the back, the driver told police.

He said he drove to Safeway on East Mission Avenue and North Hamilton Street and called police.

The man who was shot shared the same story with police, adding he was shot in the back twice. He said paramedics treated him at Safeway and then took him to the hospital.

About two weeks later, the man who was shot was standing on East North Crescent Avenue near where he was shot, he told police. He said the defendant approached him, thanking him for not “ratting” him out, saying he has a short temper.

The gunshot victim told police June 14 he knew the defendant only as “Bailey.”

Police arrested Bailey June 15 on South Maple Street near West Eighth Avenue, documents say. Bailey told police he used a 9 mm handgun to fire at the vehicle.

Bailey will serve 18 months of community custody when he’s released from prison.