In the quiet city of Helena, Montana, a young life was tragically cut short on the evening of June 3, 2009. Cory Andrewski, a 16-year-old male, was fatally shot following a dispute that escalated into deadly violence. The incident, which stemmed from an argument over a girl, unfolded on Division Street, leaving a community in shock and a family devastated.
The conflict began with a series of text messages exchanged between two teenage boys arguing over a 15-year-old girl. This digital confrontation soon spilled into the physical world, culminating in a violent encounter. A witness reported hearing five gunshots and seeing one male shoot another, who then fell face forward to the ground. Cory Andrewski was pronounced dead at the scene, having sustained a gunshot wound to his left side and a possible head wound. Two other teenagers, a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old, were also shot and hospitalized.
One of the wounded victims, brought to his knees by a gunshot, pleaded with the shooter, "Please, just leave me alone," before being shot twice more at close range.
Following an overnight manhunt, law enforcement arrested 17-year-old Sebastian Walter Olivares-Coster in connection with the shootings. He was charged with deliberate homicide and attempted deliberate homicide. In 2010, Olivares-Coster was convicted and sentenced to three life sentences for his crimes. The severity of the sentence reflected the brutal nature of the attack, with the county attorney describing it as "one of the most brutal homicide scenarios imaginable." In 2019, Olivares-Coster was denied parole, ensuring he would continue to serve his sentence for the senseless act of violence that ended Cory Andrewski's life and forever altered the lives of two other young men.
