On a summer day in Lodge Grass, Montana, the life of 25-year-old Denise Stewart-Nomee, a Native American woman from the Crow Tribe, was tragically cut short. On August 4, 2017, she, her husband Leslie Frank Nomee Jr., 27, and another man, Nehemiah Brokenrope, 30, were killed in a shooting at a residence on the Crow Indian Reservation. Two other people were injured in the incident.
The investigation that followed, led by the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, revealed a complex and violent encounter. Authorities determined that Stewart-Nomee and the two men with her had forcibly entered the home. They were reportedly armed with at least one gun and possibly other weapons. Inside the house, at least one of the occupants was also armed. An exchange of gunfire ensued, leaving three deceased and two wounded.
The investigation was further complicated when the house where the shooting took place burned to the ground days later.
In the immediate aftermath, a "Be On the Lookout" alert was issued for a suspect. A person of interest, Roderick Plentyhawk, 32, was later located and questioned by authorities in connection with the triple homicide. However, he was never charged in relation to the deaths that occurred in Lodge Grass. Plentyhawk was subsequently arrested and charged in a separate shooting incident in Billings.
After a 10-month investigation into the deaths of Denise Stewart-Nomee, her husband, and Nehemiah Brokenrope, the U.S. Attorney for Montana announced that no federal charges would be filed. The prosecutor's office concluded that it was impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt who shot whom during the chaotic event. They also stated that they would be unable to overcome claims of self-defense or defense of another. Crow Tribal leaders suggested that the violence was connected to methamphetamine and gang activity that had been plaguing the community.
