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Friday, December 13, 2024
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Mississippi
Jackson, Miss. – Three individuals pled guilty today to their roles in a murder on the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians’ Reservation.
According to court documents, in September 2023, Michael Jeffrey Shaffer, Sr., 48, and Montero Ray Willis, 22, used a firearm to shoot and kill a tribal member in the Pearl River Community of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians’ Reservation. Deyonkia Alice Willis, 30, acted as an accessory after the fact to the murder. The defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury in November of 2023.
The defendants will be sentenced at a later date to be determined by the court. Michael Jeffrey Shaffer, Sr., and Montero Ray Willis both face up to life in prison for murder in the second degree. Deyonkia Alice Willis faces up to fifteen years in prison. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee and Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Eikhoff of the Federal Bureau of Investigation made the announcement.
The Choctaw Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Tribal Initiative.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin J. Payne and Brian K. Burns prosecuted the case.
Project Safe Neighborhood’s Tribal Initiative refers to the inclusion of tribal law enforcement officials and community leaders within the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program, a national initiative by the U.S. Department of Justice that aims to identify and address the most pressing violent crime issues in a community by bringing together federal, state, local, tribal law enforcement, prosecutors, and community partners to develop comprehensive solutions; essentially, it signifies the program’s efforts to actively involve tribal entities in combating crime within their jurisdictions.
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