Dean Randolph Jess, a 42-year-old White male, died on July 5, 2013 after a confrontation with law enforcement in Billings, Montana, several days after escaping from the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge. Jess had been serving a lengthy prison sentence stemming from convictions in Park County that included a sex crime and failure to register as a sex offender. Authorities said he had previously been convicted of rape in Washington state and had been sentenced in Montana to decades behind bars.
While incarcerated, Jess had been assigned to work with the prison's motor vehicle maintenance crew and was considered a minimum-security inmate trusted enough to participate in work assignments outside the main facility.
On July 1, 2013, Jess disappeared while working on a service call connected to the prison's maintenance program. Officials discovered that the vehicle he had been using was abandoned about a mile and a half from the prison grounds, prompting an immediate search. Law enforcement officers and corrections personnel conducted a ground and air search of the surrounding rugged terrain, but the fugitive managed to evade capture. For several days his whereabouts remained unknown as authorities warned the public and attempted to track his movements.
The search shifted more than 250 miles east when investigators received a tip that Jess had made contact with someone in the Billings area. The information led deputies to a pay phone near a Walmart shopping center on the city's west end. Around the same time, authorities learned that a green Jeep had been stolen from the Deer Lodge area, raising suspicions that the escaped inmate might be driving the vehicle.
Yellowstone County deputies soon spotted a Jeep matching that description leaving the shopping center parking lot. Several patrol vehicles moved in and boxed the vehicle in at an intersection near the store. Deputies approached the Jeep and called Jess by name, repeatedly ordering him to shut off the engine and exit the vehicle. Instead, Jess locked the doors and refused to comply, creating a tense standoff that lasted roughly fifteen to twenty minutes as officers tried to convince him to surrender.
According to the sheriff's office, the situation escalated when a deputy observed Jess reaching for a handgun inside the vehicle. Believing his life was in danger, Lt. Shane Skillen opened fire, fatally striking Jess. Authorities said it was unclear whether Jess fired any shots during the confrontation. No deputies were injured in the incident, but the area around the intersection was closed for several hours while investigators processed the scene.
Because the shooting involved law enforcement, a formal coroner's inquest was later convened to review the circumstances of Jess's death. Witnesses testified that Jess had ignored repeated commands from deputies during the standoff. Testimony also described him making provocative gestures toward officers during the confrontation. After hearing the evidence, a seven-person jury deliberated for only a few minutes before determining that Lt. Shane Skillen's use of deadly force was justified. As a result, no criminal charges were filed against the deputy, and the case concluded with the shooting officially ruled lawful.
