A man posing as a stranded driver convinced a family to stop along the road of a Montana Indian reservation – and then allegedly pulled out his gun and shot the entire family. Jesus Deniz Mendoza, 18, (also known as Jesus Deniz) demanded money from the Shane family and began firing his gun as the daughter , Jorah Shane , 26, was ordered to run, by her mother.
@KatRamsland “Their daughter, 26-year-old Jorah Shane, was shot in the back when she tried to run away…” pic.twitter.com/eVKJFJvEJO
— Kelly Cash (@Enginethatcan) July 31, 2015
Jesus Deniz claimed he had run out of gas near the Crow Indian Reservation, Jorah Shane told Montana police officers from her hospital bed before undergoing surgery to have a bullet removed from her spine. Ada Shane, the young woman’s aunt, made sure the television stayed off in her niece’s room as she shared her story because Jorah had not yet been told that both of her parents had been killed.
“Last night before she went in, she told everyone to go look for her mom, she’s hiding in the field,” Ada Shane said. “Both my brother and sister-in-law have big hearts. They’re always helping someone else. He’s only 18, he looked like an innocent boy.”
Jesus Deniz Mendoza is sitting in a jail cell not far from the Crow Nation, awaiting extradition proceedings to begin. Whether or not he is an illegal immigrant has not yet been shared with the public. He was currently living in Worland, Wyoming and was arrested near Meeteetse, a town about 120 miles away from Pryor, where the Crow Indian Reservation is located.
When speaking with FBI agents, Jesus Mendoza reportedly confessed to shooting the Shane family with a.22 caliber rifle. The criminal complaint filed against Deniz/Mendoza seeks a warrant to extradite him back to Montana to stand trial for murder. The legal filing stated that Jason Shane, 51, and Tana Shane, 47, were shot and killed near the Crow Nation, but did not identify Jorah Shane as being wounded because the federal agency has a policy against identifying potential witnesses.
Police: Couple slain in #CrowNation reservation after helping man who ran out of gas.http://t.co/vvQkEtMRhQ pic.twitter.com/KWFFWEigCW
— WPEC CBS12 News (@CBS12) July 31, 2015
“Deniz told the interviewing agents that he shot the victims because he was getting tired of waiting around, and because the daughter had laughed at him,” a statement released by FBI Special Agent Larry McGrail II, said.
The Shane family was about 50 yards from home when they stopped to help Jesus Mendoza. Tana Shane reportedly went home and gathered up her daughter and husband, and then drove back to help the stranded driver. Soon after exiting their vehicle, Mendoza pulled his gun and pointed it at Jason Shane’s head.
After ordering the mother and daughter out of the car, he reportedly demanded all of their money. The Shane family had only recently returned from a Window Rock, Arizona religious revival, and only had some spare change on hand. Mendoza then reportedly ordered the family to “start walking” and Tana Shane whispered to Jorah in their Native American language, telling her to run.
Jorah Shane recalled hearing a shot and began running quickly as she said she heard bullets passing close by her head. She then heard her mother screaming, felt blood running down her face when a bullet grazed her head, and then a bullet hit her in the spine area.
Jorah’s screaming was heard by people at the nearby St. Charles Mission School. A car rushing to the area stopped, the daughter jumped. As she drove away, the daughter still heard gunshots.