RAPID CITY, S.D. – There’s still no decision in the slaying of a transgender woman in Rapid City a year after her death.
Acey Morrison, a trans Native American woman, was shot and killed in a trailer home north of town.
Pennington County prosecutors have yet to decide whether to charge the shooter or close the investigation into her death. Reports say the man claims to have fired on her in self-defense.
Morrison’s mother, Edelyn Catches, said earlier this week that she hasn’t heard from anyone in the Pennington County State’s Attorney’s Office since last winter, when former State’s Attorney Mark Vargo left his position for work overseas.
State’s Attorney Lara Roetzel, the longtime prosecutor who replaced Vargo, said earlier this summer and again last week that her office hasn’t made a call on charges or closed the investigation.
Roetzel said a states attorney’s office does not sit on a homicide case for a year lightly and says she’s going to meet with the family.
“Ultimately, the decision needs to be made. Acey Morrison’s family needs to be consulted and considered in making that decision,” Roetzel said. “I’m committed to meeting them as soon as possible so that I can speak on her behalf and we can make that decision together as to the best way to proceed in the case.”
