A teenager is convicted of murder in a 2022 shooting at a Bismarck motel

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A jury on Wednesday convicted a 17-year-old of murder in connection with the shooting death of a South Dakota man last year at a motel in Bismarck.

Jesse Taylor Jr., of Mandan, North Dakota, was found guilty of murder for the September 2022 death of 28-year-old Maurice Thunder Shield, of McLaughlin, South Dakota, as well as aggravated assault for allegedly wounding a motel worker in the shooting, The Bismarck Tribune reported.

Taylor, who was tried as an adult, could be sent to prison for life without parole. A state district court judge called for a presentence investigation.

Taylor’s attorney said his client was acting in self-defense after a verbal altercation with Thunder Shield.

The prosecutor said that claim had no legal basis, and said Taylor had the opportunity to escape from Thunder Shield, who appeared agitated. By firing five rounds from a handgun over several seconds, the teen intended to kill him, the prosecutor said.

Taylor, then 16, fled after the shooting. He was arrested soon afterward in Warren, Minnesota.

The trial began Aug. 28.