15-year old Kiefer Joshua Votaw has been sentenced to 40-years in prison–with 9 of them suspended. His guilty plea in the fatal shooting of his sister at her home on South Meridian Road in October 2024. He’s been incarcerated for the past 861-days, for which Judge Paul Sullivan gave him credit.
Here’s the backstory: Police arrived at the home on South Meridian Road, just south of 4th Street West, at around 3:20 that Thursday afternoon. They found the 16-year girl had been shot. Officers, under the direction of Detective Chad Sweigart, worked into the night processing the scene. Turns out the boy’s mother and 18-year old brother were away on a brief errand when, prosecutors say, Votaw grabbed a gun from the family’s safe. Then, they say he loaded ammunition into the handgun and shot his sister—once in the back of the head.
Prosecutors also say that Votaw was a troubled young man, “in need of serious psychological help.” Apparently, he’d been watching videos of people being killed. It appears that he deleted data from his phone prior to the killing of his sister.
Prior to the shooting, Votaw’s last know address was the Missoula County Juvenile Detention Center.
His defense attorney read this statement from Votaw prior to sentencing. In it, he says, “I can’t give you a reason exactly as to why I shot my sister, because I myself am still trying to figure that out.”
