Billings Woman Sentenced to 20 Years for Killing Man on Crow Reservation
BILLINGS, Mont. — The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Montana announced on Oct. 21 that Dameka American Horse, 27, a Billings woman who shot a man to death on a remote road on the Crow Indian Reservation, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. American Horse pleaded guilty in January 2026 to second-degree murder and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime. U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.
According to court documents, law enforcement learned in late November 2024 that American Horse had shot a man in a red Ford Explorer on the Crow Indian Reservation. On the morning of that November day, she drove around Billings looking for a friend, eventually finding the friend parked in a car on Billings's South Side. American Horse and her friend later met another man, identified as Cristan Reeves-Putman. Reeves-Putman climbed into a red Ford Explorer and drove off, with American Horse and her friend following in their own vehicle.
They eventually caught up. American Horse and her friend got out and confronted Reeves-Putman, sparking a heated argument. The friend stayed with Reeves-Putman in the Ford and drove off, while American Horse followed behind. After a brief stop at Meadowlark Mobile Home Park south of Billings, the group ended up parked on the side of Pryor Gap Road near Pryor.
American Horse got out of her vehicle and climbed into the backseat of the Ford, sitting directly behind Reeves-Putman, who was in the front passenger seat. She then pulled a handgun and shot him. Reeves-Putman reacted by jumping into the driver's seat on top of American Horse's friend; the two men spilled from the vehicle while American Horse continued to fire, hitting Reeves-Putman at least four more times in the chest and arm and inadvertently shooting her friend as well.
Reeves-Putman climbed back into the driver's seat of the Ford while the others drove off toward Billings. About a week and a half later, authorities found the Ford on farmland east of Pryor Gap Road, with Reeves-Putman dead inside in the driver's seat.
The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted the case; the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs conducted the investigation.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：蒙大拿州克劳印第安保留地入口景观（资料图）。照片：美国农业部，公共领域，经Wikimedia Commons。Photo: Entrance sign to the Crow Indian Reservation, Montana (file photo). Photo: U.S. Department of Agriculture, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
