On April 14, 2024, female, 36-year-old Native American woman Utahnna Dawn “Nana” BearComesOut who lived on the Wind River Indian Reservation and worked in Lander, Wyoming, was shot in the head while riding in a pickup on U.S. Highway 287 south of Fort Washakie; she was pronounced dead later that night.
The Fremont County Coroner ruled the death a homicide caused by a gunshot wound to the head, and authorities noted the incident happened at about 9 p.m.
on the highway south of Fort Washakie. 36-year-old Utahnna BearComesOut was traveling with her husband and their child when the shooting occurred.
Wind River Police officers responding to a passerby's 911 call detained the husband at the scene and found female, 36-year-old Utahnna BearComesOut unresponsive in the passenger seat; the FBI confirmed it was investigating because the killing occurred on an Indian Reservation. 36-year-old Utahnna BearComesOut was pronounced dead at 9:43 p.m.
Investigators stated that during an argument in the moving truck, the husband produced a 9 mm handgun and pointed it toward the head of Utahnna BearComesOut before the weapon discharged.
The husband later flagged down a motorist and told the driver to call 911, while the responding FBI agent reported observing no injuries on him consistent with his claims of being struck. Female, victim Utahnna BearComesOut was found slumped in the passenger seat with significant head trauma.
Law enforcement arrested the husband, identified as Fort Washakie resident Conrad Tillman, in connection with the killing of Utahnna BearComesOut. After an initial federal charge of second-degree murder, a May 16, 2024 grand jury indictment upgraded the case to first-degree murder along with firearm counts; Tillman pleaded not guilty at a June 10, 2024 arraignment in Lander federal court.
Proceedings in the case of the killing of 36-year-old Utahnna BearComesOut were subsequently rescheduled multiple times.
In March 2025, Tillman pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced by a U.S. District Court judge to 30 years in federal prison for killing Utahnna BearComesOut in front of the couple's child; the court enhanced the sentence because the child witnessed the killing and because the gun was used while Tillman was driving.
36-year-old Utahnna BearComesOut's obituary records her as a lifelong resident of the Wind River Indian Reservation with traditional American Indian funeral services held the week following her death, underscoring her Indigenous community ties in the Lander–Fort Washakie area.
