RAPID CITY – United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler has sentenced an Oglala, South Dakota, man convicted of Second Degree Murder. The sentencing took place on September 14, 2026.
Teldon Kills Small, 19, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Kills Small was indicted for Second Degree Murder, Discharge of a Firearm During a Crime of Violence, Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury, and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon by a federal grand jury in December 2025. He pleaded guilty on June 9, 2026.
On the evening of November 29, 2025, Kills Small and others were consuming alcohol to excess. The male victim told Kills Small and others with Kills Small that they needed to leave. Kills Small discharged nine rounds from his firearm, striking the male victim seven times in the chest and torso, as well as a juvenile female victim who was nearby. This all occurred on the male victim’s mother’s exterior porch. The victim died on scene and the female sustained bodily injury to her arm. The defendant fled the residence and was later apprehended in Rapid City.
This matter was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, mandates that certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian Country be prosecuted in Federal court as opposed to State court.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Poppen prosecuted the case.
Kills Small was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — South Dakota — U.S. Department of Justice press release.