Pine Ridge Man Sentenced for Second Degree Murder

United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Pine Ridge, South Dakota, man convicted of Second Degree Murder was sentenced on October 24, 2016, by Chief Judge Jeffrey L. Viken, U.S. District Court.

Jerome Warrior, age 20, was sentenced to 14 years’ custody, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Warrior pleaded guilty to the charge on July 8, 2016.  The charge related to Warrior and others striking the victim with a cinder block, kicking the victim in the head and face, beating the victim with a stick, and striking the victim in the back of his head with a machete on July 12, 2015.  The cause of death was multiple blunt trauma to the head, including a skull fracture and hemorrhaging.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services, the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Megan Poppen and Kathryn N. Rich prosecuted the case.

Warrior was immediately returned to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.