A South Dakota airman accused of killing a Native American woman at Ellsworth Air Force Base has now been charged with first-degree murder and could face the death penalty if convicted.
Airman Basic Quinterius Charles Chappelle, 24, was originally charged with second-degree murder last month after local authorities found the body of Sahela Toka Win Sangrait, a 21-year-old who had been missing since August.
U.S. Attorney Alison Ramsdell said a federal grand jury returned an indictment elevating the charge to first-degree murder — which carries a maximum punishment of the death penalty.
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“The federal grand jury in Rapid City recently returned a charge of first-degree murder against Quinterius Chappelle, alleging he killed the victim with premeditation,” Ramsdell said in a news release. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota will now proceed with the prosecution of this tragic case and relentlessly pursue justice on behalf of the victim.”
Chappelle entered a not guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daneta Wollmann on March 28. An attorney listed for the airman in federal court documents did not respond to a phone call from Military.com on Monday.
Rapid City, South Dakota’s ABC affiliate KOTA-TV reported on details of the case that emerged during a detention hearing in federal court late last month.
Sangrait’s remains — discovered by a hiker in Hill City, South Dakota — were covered with a coffee table that matched a set found in Chappelle’s home, KOTA reported. A relative of the 21-year-old detailed that the two were in an abusive relationship, the TV station reported.
Pennington County Sheriff’s Office sergeant and investigator Jesse Fagerland said Sangrait was living on base with Chappelle, which was not allowed, and that she would sneak onto the installation by hiding in the trunk of his car, KOTA-TV reported.
A transcript of the hearing was not immediately available, and the criminal complaint in the case is sealed in federal court records.
Chappelle remains in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. A March 28 detention order in federal court documents states that “there is a serious risk that the defendant will endanger the safety of another person or the community.”
The FBI, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, Rapid City Police Department, the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Missing and Murdered Unit, and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations are investigating the case.
Elevating the charge from second-degree to first-degree murder now opens up the possibility of the death penalty. While the federal death penalty is rarely used, President Donald Trump and his Justice Department have ordered capital punishment to resume.
On Trump’s first day in office, he signed the “Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety” executive order, dubbing it “an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a Fox News interview Sunday that the Trump administration will “seek the death penalty whenever possible.” Bondi would be the ultimate authority to approve capital punishment in Chappelle’s case.
Related: A Native American Woman’s Body Was Found by a Hiker. An Airman Is Accused of Her Murder.
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