BILLINGS — Federal prosecutors want until July 1 to decide if they will seek the death penalty for an 18-year-old Wyoming man accused of killing a husband and wife on Montana’s Crow Indian Reservation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Suek said in a court filing that a decision will not be made before defendant Jesus Deniz Mendoza has a chance to offer the government any relevant evidence.
A status conference in the case is scheduled for Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Susan Watters.
Mendoza, of Worland, has pleaded not guilty in the July 29 killings of Jason and Tana Shane near Pryor.
Authorities say the couple was shot after stopping to help the defendant along a rural roadway on the southeastern Montana reservation.