RENO, Nev. –A member of the Fort McDermitt Shoshone Paiute tribe was today sentenced to life imprisonment on two consecutive counts of murdering two women who were also members of the tribe.
According to court documents and evidence presented during the trial, on January 31, 2018, Stoney Prior (43) shot dead two women on the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, inside the home of one of the victims.
In August 2021, a jury convicted before of two counts of second degree murder in the Indian country. U.S. District Judge Larry R. Hicks presided over the jury trial and sentencing hearing today.
Acting US Attorney Christopher Chiou for the Nevada District and Special Agent in Charge Aaron C. Rouse for the FBI made the announcement.
This case was a joint investigation by the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, with assistance from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office. US Assistant Prosecutors Penelope Brady and Richard Casper continued the case.
If you have any information regarding a missing or murdered person in Indian country, please contact your local FBI office or submit a tip online – tips can be kept anonymous – at ADVICE.FBI.GOV.
The Department of Justice is committed to addressing violent crime in Indigenous communities and improving the federal response to reports of missing or murdered American Indians or Alaska Natives. For more information on the Department’s initiative on missing and murdered indigenous people, visit: www.justice.gov/tribal.
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