Jury rules "justifiable homicide" in Sheridan County slaying

| February 22, 2013 9:42 AM

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A coroner's inquest found a Sheridan County sheriff's deputy was justified in shooting a Plentywood man to death outside a casino last July as he held her at gunpoint.

Coroner David G. Fulkerson tells The Billings Gazette (http://bit.ly/XQsNCB ) a jury ruled Tuesday the death of 27-year-old Bryan Reyes Havard was "justifiable homicide."

Testimony indicated Havard led two deputies on a chase after they tried to stop him for speeding at about midnight on July 7.

The chase ended at a nightclub about a mile east of Plentywood. Testimony indicated Havard left his vehicle, confronted the deputies several times and eventually grabbed Deputy Heidi Williamson, trying to use her as a hostage and human shield while threatening her with a loaded .45-caliber pistol.

Fulkerson says Williamson shot Havard three times.