Billings woman sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing man on Crow reservation

BILLINGS - A Billings woman who shot a man to death on a remote road on the Crow Indian Reservation was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Steger Smith said.

Dameka American Horse, 27, pleaded guilty in January 2026 to second degree murder and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.

The government alleged in court documents that law enforcement learned in late November 2024 that American Horse shot a man in a red Ford Explorer on the Crow Indian Reservation.

American Horse spent the morning of Nov. 22, 2026, driving around Billings looking for a friend, who she eventually found parked in a car on Billings's South Side. American Horse and her friend met up with another man later identified as Cristan Reeves-Putman. Reeves-Putman climbed into a red Ford Explorer and drove off. American Horse and her friend followed Reeves-Putman in their own vehicle.

They eventually caught up to the Ford. American Horse and her friend got out and confronted Reeves-Putman, sparking a heated argument. The friend stayed with Reeves-Putman in the Ford and drove off, while American Horse followed behind in the other vehicle. After a brief stop at Meadowlark Mobile Home Park south of Billings, the group ended up parked on the side of Pryor Gap Road near Pryor.

American Horse got out of her vehicle and climbed into the backseat of the Ford, sitting directly behind Reeves-Putman, who was in the front passenger seat. She then pulled a handgun and shot Reeves-Putman, who reacted by jumping into the driver's seat on top of American Horse's friend. The two men spilled from the vehicle while American Horse continued to fire, hitting Reeves-Putman at least four more times in the chest and arm and inadvertently shooting her friend as well.

Reeves-Putman climbed back into the driver's seat of the Ford while the others drove off and headed back to Billings. A week and a half later, authorities found the Ford on some farmland east of Pryor Gap Road. Reeves-Putman, dead, was inside sitting in the driver's seat.

The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted the case. The FBI and BIA conducted the investigation.