South Dakota
2024 SDHSAA State Oral Interpretation Results
The 2024 SDHSAA state oral interpretation festival took place from Sturgis Brown High School on December 6-7. Here are the results from the two-day event.
Results are listed by School, Performer(s), and Scores.
(* represents superior with distinction)
AA Non-Original Oratory
Harrisburg Katelyn Christopherson (6- 5- 10)
Brandon Valley Isabella Gibson 6 – 5 – 9
Pierre T.F. Riggs Chloe Bowers 5 – 6 – 9
Sioux Falls Washington Damien Deen 5 – 5 – 9
Brookings Finn Bartlett 5 – 5 – 9
Sioux Falls Jefferson Meridian Hailu 6 – 5 – 7
A Serious Reading
Deuel Sienna Martinell 7 – 8 – 7
Madison Isla Hennings 7 – 6 – 8
Stanley County Emily Hanson 6 – 7 – 8
Milbank Trixie Coalter 8 – 6 – 6
Little Wound Malik Eastman 7 – 7 – 5
West Central Sophia Prostrollo 6 – 7 – 5
Beresford Isabella Russo 6 – 6 – 5
Sioux Falls Christian Lauren Wimmer 5 – 5 – 6
*Hill City Anderson Frandsen 5 – 5 – 5
*St. Thomas More Isabelle Naasz 5 – 5 – 5
B Reader’s Theatre
Wolsey-Wessington (Moshe Richmond, Keaton Zomer, Caleb Richmond, Ashton Hill, Colin Hughes, 7- 9-7)
Gregory (Cruz Klundt, Dani Timanus, Madi Graber, Bo Brozik, Ella Sperl, 7 – 7 -8)
Corsica-Stickney (Cali Vanden Hoek, Max Vanden Hoek, Tanner Bartelt, Jaxson Muck, Peyton Denning, Jett Kemp 8 – 7 – 7)
Hoven (Taylyn Rausch, Addison Griese, Alyssa Kaup, Ava Hartung, Ava Griese, 8-6-7)
Chester Area (Ainsley Breu, Ivy Moyer, Maci Hahn, 7 – 5 -8)
Freeman Academy (Madelyn Anderson, Jada Buse, Arianne Fink, Armando Miller, Benjamin Clark, Jax Kaufman 6 – 6 -7)
Castlewood (Leah Aderhold, Kaden Davis, Bridgette Horn, Lilly Jacobson, Gabrielle Raasch, Kezia Mullen 5 – 5 – 7)
Rosholt (Madisen Pohl, Emma Shelstad, Lexi Vermillion, 5 – 6 -5)
*Estelline (Mackenzie Court, Whitney Court, Sydney Court, Colin Seidell, Lita Fryer, 5 – 5 – 5)
AA Serious Reading
Aberdeen Central Taylor Tullar 8 – 7 – 6
Brookings Poppy McElroy 8 – 5 – 7
Brandon Valley Bella Reif 6 – 5 – 7
Rapid City Stevens Euana Matute 7 – 5 – 6
Sioux Falls Jefferson Kyra Rivera 6 – 5 – 5
Harrisburg Lily Simonich 6 – 5 – 5
*Sioux Falls Washington Annan Musa 5 – 5 – 5
A Reader’s Theatre
Sioux Falls Christian (Elise Gammeter, Claire Jensen, Lauren Wimmer, Lizzy Ellis, Margaret Vogel, 6 – 7 -10)
Aberdeen Roncalli (Anya Unser, Lucia Gutenkauf, Amelia Duncan, 6 – 7 – 8)
Rapid City Christian (Taylor Swarthout, Tenley Joswiak, Joe Freeouf, Noah Fiester, Maeli Fiester, Anneka Rolfes, 7 – 6 – 8)
Great Plains Lutheran (Katy Dahlberg, Greyson Leins, Miriam Jarcik, 6 – 6 – 9)
West Central (Stone Loof, Andie Ingalls, Sophia Prostrollo, BreAnn Heider, Mason Kennedy, Taylor Cain 5 – 6 – 9)
Little Wound (Malik Eastman, Devon Brown, Nikolas Yellow Boy, Charlee Apple, 7 – 5 – 7)
Flandreau (Abe Streitz, Isabel Kulm, Abigail Lewis, Jillian Knippling, Benjamin Kulm, 6 – 5 – 8)
Beresford (Emma Andrews, Max Josko, Sophia Coe, Isabelle Beeson, Isabella Russo, 6 – 6 – 3)
B Humorous Reading
Ethan Coltyn Raymond 6 – 9 – 7
Florence Mia Jaeger 6 – 9 – 7
Bison Lila Besler 6 – 7 – 8
Dell Rapids St. Mary Megan Geraets 6 – 7 – 8
Kadoka Area Jace Fernandez 6 – 7 – 7
Lemmon Liam McCartney 5 – 7 – 8
Freeman Thor Aanenson 6 – 7 – 7
Bridgewater-Emery Oscar Fink 6 – 6 – 7
Henry Dylan Jensen 5 – 5 – 8
Castlewood Bridgette Horn 5 – 8 – 5
Estelline Mackenzie Court 5 – 5 – 6
*Northwestern Annie Dvorak 5 – 5 – 5
AA Reader’s Theatre
Harrisburg (Kian Leyro, Katelin Larson, Madison O’Brien, Layla Nelson, Breann Berns, 6 – 7 – 9)
Aberdeen Central (Sydnei Heinzen, Joey Johnson, Hayden Magee, Faith Waldner, 7 – 7 – 7)
Rapid City Stevens (Blixa Broussard, Mason Schumacher, Asher Homa, James Birch, Rhett Miller, Spenser Harris, 6 – 7 – 8)
Watertown (David Lechner, Josie Althoff, Tysen Canfield, Taryn Koehn , Silas Masar, Olivia Strandell 8 – 5 – 7)
Brandon Valley (Bella Reif, Julia Tinker, Olaf Lindquist, Ellie Sershen, 7 – 5 – 7)
Huron (Lily Halter, Isabella Schafer, Keara Gabriel, Landon Pomerico, Henry Van Scharrel, Charlie Bragg, 5 – 6 -8)
Sioux Falls Jefferson (Teonna Randle, Meridian Hailu, Kyra Rivera, Kairie “Kai” Rivera, Edom Hiruy, Elise Klein 6 – 5 -5)
*Pierre T.F. Riggs (Chloe Bowers, Maren Houdyshell, Lanie Stulken, Harper Reichling, Lillie Kellar , 5 – 5 -5)
*Sioux Falls Washington (Damien Deen, Olivia Hulscher, Kenzynique Wilson, Khady Diaw, Annan Musa, Rakiya Stocklin, 5 – 5 – 5)
*O’Gorman (Jacob Thomas, Sofia Izaguirre, Owen Tschetter, Isaac Solomon, Adud Arop, Kaylee Hulme 5 – 5 – 5)
A Storytelling
Lead-Deadwood Dylan Vincent 6 – 9 – 6
Dell Rapids Hannah Lundgren 7 – 7 – 6
Sioux Valley Melanie Molengraaf 7 – 6 – 7
Bon Homme Breece Slade 6 – 6 – 7
West Central Rylee Cawley 5 – 7 – 7
Aberdeen Roncalli Amelia Duncan 5 – 5 – 8
Rapid City Christian Joe Freeouf 5 – 7 – 6
Flandreau Benjamin Kulm 6 – 7 – 5
Wagner Presley Slaba 5 – 6 – 7
Sioux Falls Christian Toryn Kooima 5 – 6 – 6
Beresford Juliet Josko 5 – 5 – 6
*Vermillion Catie Naber 5 – 5 – 5
B Storytelling
Northwestern Allie Hoekman 7 – 7 – 10
Avon Kate Swier 8 – 7 – 6
Marion Harli Ross 7 – 5 – 9
Florence Aleah Jaeger 6 – 8 – 6
Castlewood Leah Aderhold 6 – 5 – 8
Ethan Anna Mellegaard 6 – 6 – 5
AA Humorous Reading
Harrisburg Breann Berens 8 – 7 – 7
Sioux Falls Jefferson Kairie Rivera (Kai) 8 – 5 – 7
Tea Area Brody Miller 9 – 5 – 6
Yankton Noah Harrell 8 – 5 – 6
Brookings MacKennzie Anderson 7 – 6 – 6
Sturgis Brown Aaron Gray 8 – 5 – 5
Brandon Valley Julia Tinker 7 – 5 – 5
Pierre T.F. Riggs Adem Ballew 7 – 5 – 5
Sioux Falls Lincoln Jackson Klawonn 5 – 6 – 6
Sioux Falls Washington Damien Deen 6 – 5 – 5
Rapid City Stevens Blixa Broussard 6 – 5 – 5
*O’Gorman Owen Tschetter 5 – 5 – 5
AA Storytelling
Sioux Falls Lincoln Lauren Huber 9 – 6 – 7
Brookings Catherine Michna 6 – 9 – 5
Brandon Valley Brooke Peterson 5 – 9 – 5
Pierre T.F. Riggs Lanie Stulken 5 – 8 – 5
Tea Area Ella Cambier 5 – 7 – 6
Harrisburg Kian Leyro 6 – 6 – 5
Sioux Falls Jefferson Kairie “Kai” Rivera 6 – 5 – 5
O’Gorman Isaac Solomon 5 – 6 – 5
*Watertown Sonny Rader 5 – 5 – 5
*Sioux Falls Washington Annan Musa 5 – 5 – 5
A Duet Interpretation
Little Wound Loius McBride IV, Quade Levaldo 6 – 6 – 12
Bon Homme Reese Hejna, Olivia Kaul 7 – 7 – 9
St. Thomas More Ava Barthel, Isabelle Naasz 6 – 7 – 7
Mobridge-Pollock Sophia Overland, Mystic Erickson 7 – 6 – 7
Dell Rapids Noah Larson, Charlie Prasek 7 – 5 – 7
Great Plains Lutheran Greyson Leins, Katy Dahlberg 7 – 5 – 7
Madison JayLynn Makert, Isla Hennings 6 – 5 – 7
Beresford Isabelle Beeson, Sophia Coe 6 – 5 – 6
Britton-Hecla Oliver Moeckly, Jerod Nebrida 5 – 6 – 6
Flandreau Abe Streitz, Benjamin Kulm 5 – 5 – 6
West Central Stone Loof, Austin Skrovig 5 – 5 – 6
*Sioux Falls Christian Claire Jensen, Nathan Rayhons 5 – 5 – 5
A Non-Original Oratory
Madison Delilah Maxwell 5 – 7 – 9
Bon Homme Adley Scheuerman 6 – 7 – 8
Deuel Gabriel Mattson 7 – 6 – 8
Milbank Carlos Olivares Zuniga 7 – 7 – 7
Britton-Hecla Oliver Moeckly 7 – 6 – 7
Great Plains Lutheran Sam Powers 5 – 7 – 8
Beresford Laney Andrews 6 – 7 – 6
Little Wound Jaida Jacobs 5 – 7 – 7
Flandreau Abigail Lewis 6 – 6 – 7
Sioux Falls Christian Abigail Ondricek 5 – 7 – 6
Rapid City Christian Taylor Swarthout 5 – 6 – 6
West Central Andie Ingalls 6 – 5 – 5
B Duet Interpretation
Gregory Piper Bartlett, Madi Graber 10 – 7 – 6
Lemmon Max Anderson, Will Penfield 7 – 6 – 9
Kimball Kimber Rasmussen, Delilah Rasmussen 9 – 5 – 7
Plankinton Harlee Guindon, Sadie Schurz 9 – 6 – 6
Woonsocket McKenzie Baruth, Oscar Anderson 7 – 6 – 8
Northwestern Abigail Schnell, Shelbey Fortin 8 – 7 – 6
Viborg-Hurley Brinlee Smith, Syndil Radio 8 – 5 – 7
Mitchell Christian Owen Kopfmann, Denairic Lieber 7 – 5 – 7
Alcester-Hudson Natalie Moore, Olivia Moore 6 – 6 – 6
De Smet Samuel Gigov, Sophia Gigov 6 – 6 – 6
Estelline Mackenzie Court, Whitney Court 5 – 6 – 5
Florence Mia Jaeger, Aleah Jaeger 5 – 6 – 5
*Avon Abby Gretschmann, Ella Hamilton 5 – 5 – 5
B Poetry Reading
Waverly-South Shore Elizabeth Meyer 9 – 7 – 7
De Smet Samuel Gigov 8 – 6 – 7
Colman-Egan Sadie McCorkle 7 – 6 – 6
Faith Melody Olugbenga 6 – 7 – 6
Mitchell Christian Makayla Strong 7 – 5 – 5
James Valley Christian Belle Niederbaumer 5 – 6 – 6
Irene-Wakonda Duncan Sharples-Schmidt 5 – 5 – 6
*Canistota Malachi Weber 5 – 5 – 5
AA Duet Interpretation
Brookings Nevaeh Hintz, Clare Overby 9 – 7 – 7
Sioux Falls Washington Folomaina David, Adriana David 7 – 6 – 8
Pierre T.F. Riggs Lanie Stulken, Maren Houdyshell 5 – 5 – 9
Sioux Falls Lincoln Jackson Klawonn, Kaci Buckneberg 6 – 6 – 7
Aberdeen Central Jasper Longoria, Kyle Duarte 5 – 6 – 7
Sioux Falls Jefferson Meridian Hailu, Teonna Randle 7 – 5 – 5
*Brandon Valley Bella Reif, Ellie Sershen 5 – 5 – 5
*Watertown David Lechner, Tysen Canfield 5 – 5 – 5
*O’Gorman Isaac Solomon, Kaylee Hulme 5 – 5 – 5
AA Poetry Reading
Brookings Jessica Martin 7 – 7 – 8
Tea Area James Hitzemann 7 – 8 – 7
Sturgis Brown Wynter Thomason 6 – 7 – 8
Sioux Falls Washington Olivia Hulscher 8 – 6 – 7
Watertown Josie Althoff 6 – 7 – 7
Pierre T.F. Riggs Harper Reichling 6 – 6 – 6
Harrisburg Sarah Jenson 6 – 6 – 6
Sioux Falls Lincoln Kaci Buckneberg 5 – 6 – 6
Huron Lily Halter 5 – 5 – 7
*Brandon Valley Julia Tinker 5 – 5 – 5
*Sioux Falls Jefferson Teonna Randle 5 – 5 – 5
*Yankton Conner Brunick 5 – 5 – 5
*O’Gorman Adud Arop 5 – 5 – 5
A Humorous Reading
Stanley County Edward Zachrison 6 – 7 – 9
Webster Area Blaize Larson 6 – 7 – 8
St. Thomas More Ava Barthel 7 – 6 – 7
Deuel Miles Decker 5 – 7 – 7
Great Plains Lutheran Greyson Leins 7 – 7 – 5
Wagner Jackson Rolston 7 – 5 – 7
West Central Taylor Cain 5 – 7 – 6
Sioux Falls Christian Nathan Rayhons 6 – 6 – 6
Beresford Max Josko 5 – 5 – 6
A Poetry Reading
Sioux Falls Christian Liz Powers 7 – 9 – 6
Chamberlain Toree Mosel 6 – 9 – 7
Mobridge-Pollock Isis Leon Leon 9 – 7 – 6
Vermillion Katelyn Oyen 7 – 6 – 8
Lead-Deadwood Briar Rose 7 – 6 – 8
Dell Rapids Paislee Dammer 8 – 7 – 5
West Central BreAnn Heider 5 – 7 – 8
Hamlin Aili Leonardi 6 – 7 – 7
Custer Makenna Allen 6 – 7 – 6
Madison JayLynn Makert 6 – 5 – 5
St. Thomas More Gabi Johnson 5 – 6 – 5
B Non-Original Oratory
James Valley Christian Audri Hohm 8 – 7 – 7
Northwestern Abigail Schnell 8 – 6 – 7
Arlington Preston Singrey 7 – 5 – 9
Avon Erica Cahoy 6 – 5 – 8
Lemmon Will Penfield 6 – 5 – 6
Freeman Thor Aanenson 5 – 5 – 7
Faulkton Area Morgan Demery 5 – 5 – 6
*Summit Andreea Filippov 5 – 5 – 5
B Serious Reading
Arlington Emerson Siebersma 7 – 7 – 8
Mitchell Christian Vienna DeWitt 6 – 8 – 7
Woonsocket Andie Aughenbaugh 6 – 7 – 8
Chester Area Ainsley Breu 7 – 8 – 6
Warner Laura Robinson 8 – 7 – 5
Menno Ervin Schrock 8 – 7 – 5
Canistota Brenen Brandenburg 5 – 8 – 6
Northwestern Shelbey Fortin 5 – 6 – 8
Kimball Sami Pringle 5 – 5 – 8
Gregory George Timanus 6 – 7 – 5
De Smet Sophia Gigov 7 – 6 – 5
McLaughlin Jestice High Cat 6 – 5 – 5
Team Excellence Awards
Brandon Valley AA Gina Koehn
Pierre T.F. Riggs AA Melinda Frank
Sioux Falls Jefferson AA Shannon McMackin
Watertown AA Corrine Kallemeyn
Sioux Falls Washington AA Michelle McIntyre
Brookings AA Carrie Oorlog
O’Gorman AA Teresa Fester
Sioux Falls Lincoln AA Aubrey Windish
Harrisburg AA Kit Rodgers
Beresford A Ann Tornberg
Madison A Matt Groce
Vermillion A Mary Begley
Little Wound A Dan Snethen
Britton-Hecla A Christina Bosse
Bon Homme A Amy Humpal
Lead-Deadwood A Courtney Pierce
Stanley County A Bryan Bonhorst
St. Thomas More A Anthony Flores
Deuel A Karan Domina
Aberdeen Roncalli A Cate Knapp
Rapid City Christian A Sue Larson
Dell Rapids A Sharon Mitchell
Flandreau A Kristi Fischer
Great Plains Lutheran A Eric Martens
West Central A Kim Schmidt/Cindy Schumacher
Milbank A Natasha Karels
Sioux Falls Christian A Alecia Juelfs
Wagner A Mieke Slaba
Mobridge-Pollock A Molly English
Kimball B Patti Konechne
Avon B Sara Hento
Gregory B Ronda Graber
Mitchell Christian B Kendra Nydam
Ethan B Karen Freeman
Estelline B Laurie Troth
Woonsocket B Danielle DeGreef
Chester Area B Christina Moyer
Lemmon B Delilah Heil
De Smet B Lacey Holt
Canistota B
James Valley Christian B Jill Mendel
Northwestern B Laurie Richards
Florence B Mary Kay Black
Arlington B Tammy Holzer
Castlewood B Jennifer Rudebusch
Freeman B Kristina Sage
WATERTOWN, S.D. — A man who spent 1,217 days as the only suspect in the 2020 murder and beheading of an Indigenous woman filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court on Thursday, Jan. 8, alleging he was negligently and maliciously prosecuted.
The complaint, filed in the United States District Court of South Dakota Northern Division, on behalf of Jeremiah Peacemaker, 49, names nearly three dozen defendants, including current Watertown Police Chief Timothy Toomey, department officers, South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, as well as agents from the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the city of Watertown, and others.
Peacemaker was
acquitted on March 5, 2024,
of murdering 28-year-old Kendra Rae Owen, an enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate.
Patrick Lalley / Sioux Falls Live
Peacemaker argues his rights under the 4th, 5th, 8th and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution were intentionally, recklessly and willfully violated, and claims the ordeal has left permanent damage to his reputation, his emotional well-being, his livelihood and his relationships.
Represented by Steven Beardsley, Kate Benson and Scott Bratland, of South Dakota law firms, Peacemaker is seeking compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by a jury at trial.
In the complaint, Peacemaker claims little of Owen’s case was actually investigated: Witnesses were ignored, evidence was ruined, misplaced and lost, and other suspects besides Peacemaker were not investigated.
“Investigators refused to consider the possibility that they had arrested the wrong person,” his complaint states.
Peacemaker told investigators that he met Owen only once, days before her murder, and he was the victim of a beating and a hit-and-run the night before his arrest.
At the time, police thought Peacemaker’s story strange, according to the complaint, and fingered him as the primary suspect hours after Owen’s body was found.
“They wanted to prove that (the) plaintiff made up the story about the assault and hit and run. When they actually did an investigation, what they discovered is that he had told the truth,” the complaint states.
Shortly after Owen’s murder, investigators agreed to trick Peacemaker, according to the complaint. Outwardly, they pretended they were going to investigate the hit and run, but quickly focused on placing Peacemaker at the scene of the murder.
At the police station, Peacemaker alleges he was tricked into giving a DNA sample, and into talking about a woman with pink hair.
Owen had pink hair.
Patrick Lalley / Sioux Falls Live
Eventually, he was read his Miranda Rights. A photograph of Owen’s corpse and her head propped on a mattress was “slapped” in front of him, the complaint stated.
Even though Peacemaker tried to tell investigators that he had only met Owen one time, two days before the hit-and-run, they called him a psychopath and a serial killer.
“He was completely blindsided and stunned,” the complaint stated.
Video evidence later revealed that Peacemaker was telling the truth, according to the complaint — he was seen with Owen buying beer from a nearby bar.
“The plaintiff explained that he was not trying to hook up with her and that she did not make him mad. He was happy to meet her and to have made a new friend,” the complaint stated.
After an entire night of interrogation, Peacemaker was arrested.
Patrick Lalley / Sioux Falls Live
Nearly three years after Owen’s death, Peacemaker’s defense lawyers returned to the crime scene. While walking around the house, they saw a strange saw on the roof. After reviewing crime scene photographs from 2020, the saw was visible in the same spot, according to the complaint.
“Defendants did not find it because they did not look. It remained on the roof for three years. By the time it was finally collected, the forensic evidence was gone,” the complaint stated, adding that there were reddish-brown stains on the roof under the saw.
Patrick Lalley / Sioux Falls Live
No reasonable investigating officer could have believed there was probable cause to arrest Peacemaker, the complaint stated.
“Because of the quick arrest of Mr. Peacemaker and subsequent press releases, the public was led to believe that this was an open and shut case. Law enforcement officers were hailed as heroes for the quick arrest. The victim’s family had no idea how flawed the case was until they showed up to watch the trial,” the complaint stated.
Contributed / Jewel DeMarrias
Owen, whose Indigenous name according to her obituary was Gakiya Nagun Wiyan or “Hears the Voice in the Distance Woman,” lived a “high-risk lifestyle,” the complaint stated, adding that she had disabilities that impaired her judgment. She had a substance abuse disorder, but she was also independent and a fighter.
Owen’s case worker, Marciella Espinoza, from the Human Service Agency, called her “Mike Tyson” because her initials were “K.O.,” and at times she was involved in fights, both as an assailant and a victim, according to the complaint.
But Owen was much more than that, her mother Jewel DeMarrias told Forum News Service in a brief interview.
She played bowling, basketball and softball in the Special Olympics. She was a churchgoer, DeMarrias said.
“She was an earth angel. She would give you her last penny to help you,” DeMarrias said.
Contributed / Jewel DeMarrias
Because of her lifestyle, intoxicated people were frequently in her home, according to the complaint. From Jan. 1, 2020, until the day her body was found, she called 911 six times, usually asking for help removing people from her home.
“A quick search of Ms. Owen’s record yielded a ton of potential suspects. The 911 records had the names of individuals who should have been interviewed because they were recently in altercations with Ms. Owens, but they were not,” the complaint stated.
From that suspect list of eight people, some have already died since the trial, according to the complaint.
One possible suspect had had Owen’s keys and threatened to kill her.
A second possible suspect — a woman — tried to hire an undercover FBI agent to commit murder, and when asked what she would do to help with the murder, she offered to cut up the body, according to the complaint.
A third potential suspect, who made the last nine phone calls to Owen, stopped by her house numerous times looking for his jean jacket. Owen was wearing a jean jacket at the time of her death.
A fourth potential suspect once broke Owen’s arm, and a fifth was with Owen when she met Peacemaker. Both these people are now deceased.
The sixth person on the list described by the complaint was described as Owen’s occasional boyfriend.
The seventh was a violent meth user who once gouged out a person’s eye.
And the eighth possible suspect was once married to a woman who assaulted Owen. While in jail, he made a “strange phone call” to Peacemaker, saying that whoever killed Owen was after him.
Cigarette butts found in Owen’s apartment were also not tested until defense attorneys in Peacemaker’s felony trial insisted. When DNA evidence came back, the genetic trail led to a woman named Brianna Lawrence, who spent time in prison for hiring a hit man to kill the father of her children, according to the complaint.
“She planned to assist the hit man by chopping the body into pieces,” the complaint stated, adding that Lawrence was also not interviewed until three years after the murder, a delay that made documentation of Lawrence’s location difficult.
The Watertown Police Department’s failure to properly investigate the case “shocks the conscience,” the complaint stated.
“Key pieces of evidence were recklessly ignored. Evidence proving Mr. Peacemaker was innocent, lost, not collected, not tested and not documented,” the complaint stated. “Investigators were more worried, tiptoeing around each other’s egos, than doing a proper investigation.”
Watertown Police Capt. Ryan Beauchamp — one of the defendants — told Forum News Service that the department could not comment on the lawsuit at this time.
Iran pulls internet access as protests surge nationwide
Iran pulled internet access as economic protests surge nationwide over economic hardships.
It’s expensive to extend fiber-optic cable to the remaining locations in South Dakota that don’t have high-speed internet, so the state is leaning into providers offering service from satellites in space.
The state’s ConnectSD initiative, which began in 2019, had helped bring broadband access to 91% of South Dakota by 2024. A state report noted the remaining 9% would be costly, given the price of bringing miles of fiber to remote areas with few customers.
The broadband initiative has cost $300 million so far, with funding from federal, state and private sources. Gov. Larry Rhoden announced recently that the state will soon receive another $72 million in federal funding for the effort.
A little more than a third of the new funding will go toward “Low Earth Orbit Satellite” technologies, like SpaceX’s Starlink, to reach 2,705 of the 7,060 locations in the state targeted for the funds. Most of the other targeted connections will come by way of fiber-optic cable, and 177 will come via signals beamed from cellular towers.
The satellite funding will not be used to pay for individual subscriptions, said a spokesperson for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.
“Instead, the award reserves network capacity with the provider so service is available in those locations,” said Bri Vande Pol. “The provider is reimbursed on a per-location basis only when a customer subscribes to the service.”
Vande Pol said the federal funding requires providers to make high-speed internet available to each eligible location for at least 10 years. She said the provider receives 25% of the award upon confirming service is available, and the remaining payments for the reserved network capacity are made quarterly over the 10-year period.
The new federal money comes from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, authorized by the 2021 Infrastructure and Jobs Act, passed during the Biden administration.
“Under the Trump administration’s changes to that program, states are encouraged to use a technology-neutral approach and connect locations in the most efficient way possible,” Vande Pol said.
“In some of South Dakota’s most remote areas, Low Earth Orbit satellite service is a strong, reliable solution that meets performance standards while allowing us to maximize the reach of available BEAD funding,” she added.
As of June 2025, South Dakota’s ConnectSD program had used $84.4 million in state general funds, $88.5 million in federal funds and $129.6 million in private investment from broadband providers to connect about 31,000 locations. The state and federal money has mostly been spent on grants to service providers, to help them expand their networks.
Rhoden’s latest proposed budget asks lawmakers to authorize $87 million in federal funding to be spent on broadband in the coming fiscal year.
Rhoden spokesperson Josie Harms said the $72 million figure announced in a press release represents “the amount that will actually be awarded to the subrecipients.”
“The $87 million amount is the total spending authority, which includes the project costs as well as administrative costs and marketing costs,” she wrote in an email to South Dakota Searchlight.
South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
WAGNER, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation has released details on a homicide that happened on January 10 in Wagner, SD.
A Wagner man has been arrested in connection with a fatal vehicle incident that occurred Saturday night near Wagner, according to SD Attorney General Marty Jackley and Charles Mix County State’s Attorney Steve Cotton.
Darian Wright, 32, of Wagner, has been charged with Vehicular Manslaughter, Driving Under the Influence, and Leaving the Scene of an Accident, with additional charges possible.
Dana Frederick, 29, of Wagner, was found deceased at a residence after a vehicle crash south of Wagner earlier that evening.
The vehicle was allegedly driven by Wright, who, along with a young child, sustained minor injuries in the incident.
The incident remains under investigation by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the South Dakota Highway Patrol, and the Wagner Police Department.
Wright is presumed innocent under the U.S. Constitution until proven guilty.
There is no additional threat to the public.
Copyright 2026 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
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