Two Sentenced for Shooting Death of Minor

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that Chief Judge Roberto A. Lange, U.S. District Court, has sentenced a Manderson, South Dakota, man convicted of Voluntary Manslaughter, and a Rapid City, South Dakota, woman convicted of Misprision of a Felony. The sentencings took place on August 2, 2024.

Tyson White Plume, 29, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Sarah Stone, 44, was sentenced to time served, followed by one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

In February of 2022, a federal grand jury indicted White Plume for Second Degree Murder and Stone for Accessory After the Fact to Second Degree Murder. White Plume pleaded guilty to Voluntary Manslaughter and Stone pleaded guilty to Misprision of a Felony. The change of plea hearings took place on May 3, 2024.

The convictions arose out of the shooting death of White Plume's seventeen-year-old girlfriend on February 5, 2022. White Plume admitted pointing a pistol at the minor's face and pulling the trigger, after removing the magazine but failing to ensure the firearm did not have a bullet in the chamber. The shooting occurred in Stone's residence near Rockyford, South Dakota, in the Pine Ridge Reservation. Stone knew the minor had been killed in her home, but concealed and lied about what she knew when she was questioned by law enforcement officers.

This matter was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, mandates that certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian Country be prosecuted in Federal court as opposed to State court.

This case was investigated by the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox prosecuted the case.

White Plume was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.