BUTTE — A young Butte man was sentenced to 10 years for firing several shots into his ex-girlfriend’s home off Hummingbird Lane last year; some of those shots, prosecutors say, came close to hitting the young girl’s father.
“All the sudden gunshots are fired, five shots into that home, it is absolutely amazing that no one was injured or killed,” said Deputy County Attorney Ellen Donohue.
District Judge Kurt Krueger sentenced Conner Tex Thomas Webster to 20 years in the Montana State Prison with 10 years suspended from that sentence. He pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon for firing five times through a window of the home in March 2023.
Prosecutors said Webster shot at the home because his girlfriend had broken up with him four months earlier. The defense claims Webster was black-out drunk at the time and was not acting rationally.
The prosecution said this was no excuse.
“They broke up four months earlier and he still feels this kind of anger and rage that he gets in his truck 1 o’clock, 1:30 in the morning, drives seven miles, and discharges a firearm into the residence,” said Donohue.
The prosecution noted the family was so traumatized by the shooting, they moved out of Butte.
Before sentencing, Webster read a statement apologizing to the family.
“You guys are amazing people and from the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for putting your lives in danger due to a selfish, drunken act of stupidity,” said Webster.
Webster, who was free on bond, was immediately taken into custody after the hearing.
