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BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Latest on a Wyoming man pleading guilty to a double murder and other crimes on Montana's Crow Indian Reservation. (all times local):
2:45 p.m.
A 19-year-old Wyoming man has pleaded guilty to shooting and killing a couple and wounding their daughter after the family tried to help him along a roadside on Montana's Crow Indian Reservation.
Jesus Deniz Mendoza pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Billings to killing Jason and Tana Shane and wounding their daughter near Pryor in July 2015.
The Worland man faces life in prison on two counts of second-degree murder and other crimes under a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.
A final sentencing decision will be up to Judge Susan Watters.
He offered no motive and denied prosecutors' claims that he asked the Shanes for money prior to the shooting.
His attorneys have said Mendoza ingested a considerable amount of the synthetic drug spice prior to his arrest.
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9:15 a.m.
A 19-year-old Wyoming man is set to plead guilty to a double-murder on Montana's Crow Reservation under an agreement with federal prosecutors that would send him to prison for life.
Jesus Deniz Mendoza was scheduled to appear at a Tuesday hearing before U.S. District Judge Susan Watters in Billings.
The Worland man agreed to plead guilty to two counts of second degree murder, assault with intent to commit murder, three counts of using a firearm in a violent crime and assault with a dangerous weapon.
He was charged with killing Jason and Tana Shane and wounding their daughter after the family stopped to help him on a roadside near Pryor in July 2015.
Prosecutors say Mendoza later returned to the scene and shot at three people who'd responded to the attack.
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