ABERDEEN – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann sentenced Jay Adams, a Sisseton man convicted of voluntary manslaughter. The sentencing occurred on June 24, 2024.
Adams, aged 58, received a 10-year federal prison sentence accompanied by three years of supervised release and a $50 special assessment fee to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2023, Adams pled guilty in November 2023.
The Incident on Lake Traverse Indian Reservation
In the predawn hours of September 4, 1992, on the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation, Adams killed a young individual out of passion by smashing the victim’s head onto a hard concrete floor. Following the incident, he placed her back on the bed and resumed his activities without seeking medical assistance. Later that day, he discovered she had succumbed to her injuries and pretended to be unaware of their origin. The early investigation did not identify Adams as the assailant, leaving the case unresolved for over three decades.
The Breakthrough in 2023
In early 2023, a witness to the crime stepped forward identifying Adams as responsible for the 1992 death. Law enforcement officers from the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribal Police Department and the FBI proceeded with new investigations. They interviewed people associated with Adams and consulted with a pathologist to review medical evidence from the original autopsy.
Adams’ eventual guilty plea was supported by medical evidence indicating that blunt force trauma caused the child’s death. U.S. Attorney Ramsdell remarked, Tragically, this matter took thirty years to resolve. But the resolution nonetheless demonstrates law enforcement’s relentless commitment to cracking these cases so that perpetrators can be held to account…
A New Chapter in Justice
This prosecution was handled federally under the Major Crimes Act, due to its occurrence in Indian Country.
The case is part of the Department of Justice’s Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Regional Outreach Program designed to address such cases through comprehensive collaboration among various agencies.
Through this MMIP program, diverse stakeholders aim to identify issues within Tribal communities and craft solutions appropriately.
Investigation credits belong to the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribal Police Department and the FBI.