A Beaufort County jury found a former Washington resident guilty of shooting another man, but without intent to kill him.

On Wednesday, William Henry “Tre” Bailey III was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious bodily injury and possession of a firearm by a felon at the conclusion of his Superior Court trial. The jury found Bailey not guilty of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, a crime that carries a weightier sentence.

The shooting took place on West Ninth Street in Washington on the afternoon of Feb. 17, 2014. At the time, police described the incident as an argument between Bailey and 21-year-old Stefon Windell Little — an argument that ended with a single gunshot that penetrated Little’s left hand and right thigh. Little was hospitalized and later had surgery to repair his femur, broken by the .40 caliber bullet, he told the court.

Bailey turned himself in to authorities the same day of the shooting. During trial, the jury watched video of his initial interview with Washington Police detectives, in which Bailey first maintained his innocence, but later claimed self-defense, and relayed the history between the two men. Bailey told detectives Little had broken into his mother’s home and stolen his clothing on one occasion; on another, Little shot a weapon into the house. Washington Police Detective Jesse Dickinson told the court Tuesday that both incidents had been reported to police.

Little was brought in from Polk Correctional Facility to testify against Bailey on Tuesday. While under oath, he said he’d never met Bailey, had never seen nor spoken to him and did not know who shot him, though both detectives on the case — Dickinson and Ji Paramore — testified that Little identified Bailey the day of the shooting, when he was in Vidant Beaufort Hospital. Another witness, who was in the car stopped behind Bailey’s, testified she saw the men talking — Bailey in the vehicle, Little on foot — but did not hear a shot fired. Bailey did not testify, though his defense attorney Tyrell Clemons argued that Bailey believed Little was pulling a gun on him.

On Tuesday, Clemons asked Superior Court Judge J. Carlton Cole to dismiss the assault with intent to kill charge. Cole declined, but the jury ultimately found that Bailey did not intend to kill Little, finding him guilty of the lesser charge instead.

Since the shooting, Bailey has moved to Durham, is working a fulltime job and supporting his new wife and children, Clemons said. During sentencing, Cole acknowledged that Bailey had turned his life around, but said the court needed to make a statement that gun violence is unacceptable.

Bailey was sentenced along state guidelines to a minimum of 29 months, maximum of 47 months, for the assault charge and a minimum of 14 months, maximum of 26 months, for the possession of a firearm by a felon charge. The sentences will run consecutively, according to prosecuting attorney Chad Stoop.