Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell has announced the sentencing of Malania Rose Fast Horse, a 25-year-old woman from Wakpala, South Dakota. Fast Horse was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann after being convicted of voluntary manslaughter. The sentence also includes three years of supervised release and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
The incident occurred on Christmas Eve 2024 when Fast Horse argued with her mother at their home within the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation. During the altercation, Fast Horse stabbed her mother multiple times in the chest, arm, and hand. Afterward, she informed her grandmother and brother about the stabbing before leaving the scene with some cigarettes. Her brother discovered their mother in critical condition but still alive. Despite emergency medical services being dispatched promptly, her mother later died from her injuries.
Fast Horse was indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2025 and pleaded guilty on March 6, 2025. The case fell under federal jurisdiction due to the Major Crimes Act, which requires certain violent crimes occurring in Indian country to be prosecuted federally.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs – Office of Justice Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Thunem led the prosecution.
Following her sentencing on June 23, 2025, Fast Horse was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service.
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