Christopher Janis, 42, a Native American man, was killed on May 27, 2017 on the Pine Ridge Reservation near Sharps Corner in South Dakota, after a meeting that federal prosecutors later described as a drug-related encounter arranged that afternoon.
According to court records and federal announcements, Scott Benson drove with Jamie Shoulders and Clarence Yellow Hawk to a driveway approach off the highway roughly two miles north of Sharps Corner, where Janis was sitting in a minivan with
another person. Benson climbed into the minivan's back seat to negotiate a purchase of prescription pills. Within moments, Shoulders approached the driver-side window with a handgun, fired through the glass, and shot Janis; as people bolted from the vehicle, Yellow Hawk moved in, picked up the gun, and fired additional rounds. Janis died from multiple gunshot wounds, and investigators later alleged at least seven shots were fired in total.
In the aftermath, the three men fled together. Prosecutors said Benson drove away and did not call for help or contact law enforcement, and during the drive the gun was thrown out of a window; it was later recovered by authorities. The case drew a federal response because it occurred in Indian Country, and it was investigated by agencies including the FBI and tribal law enforcement.
The investigation produced multiple prosecutions and a staggered set of outcomes. Benson pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced in May 2018 to 10 years in federal prison, with the Justice Department also noting he received an additional consecutive sentence in an unrelated drug-conspiracy case. Shoulders was indicted in June 2017, later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and in August 2019 was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison with supervised release and restitution ordered.
Yellow Hawk went to trial and a federal jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence; he was sentenced in June 2020 to life in federal prison. On appeal, court filings describe Yellow Hawk acknowledging at trial that he killed Janis while arguing he acted in defense, a claim the jury rejected, leaving the life sentence to stand as the final word from the courtroom on who was responsible for the fatal shots.
