The man accused of killing two people and wounding two others near Absarokee pleaded not guilty to all charges Thursday in Stillwater County District Court in Columbus.
Tyler Allen Turney, 23, appeared in court by video call from the Yellowstone County Detention Facility, where he has been held since his arrest Monday morning while fleeing the scene.
He appeared in a wheelchair, showing injuries he apparently suffered when his pickup truck rolled off the road and into the river following the shooting.
Judge Matthew Wald ordered Turney be held without bail. He was charged with two counts of deliberate homicide and two counts of attempted deliberate homicide.
Turney is accused of shooting and killing his estranged girlfriend, Nila Dawson, and her mother, Justine Dawson, at the home on Stillwater River Road, between Absarokee and Nye. Prosecutors said he also shot and wounded Nila Dawson's father, Greg Dawson, and her friend, Matthew Cale Osgood.
Prosecutors stated in charging documents that Turney drove from Texas to Montana in an attempt to reconcile with Nila Dawson, a student at Rocky Mountain College. Instead, prosecutors allege, he raped Nila Dawson at her campus apartment and tracked her to her parents' home, where he shot and killed both mother and daughter.
Turney shot Greg Dawson in the back when he investigated the early morning commotion in the garage, then shot Osgood as he approached the residence to help, according to charging documents.
Related: Mother and daughter killed in Stillwater County shooting
The Absarokee community is in mourning. Nila Dawson graduated from Absarokee High School in 2022 and was involved in athletics, FFA and other activities. The district described her on social media as "an incredibly kind, vibrant person who was taken from her friends, family, and community far too soon."
Justine Dawson was a longtime school board member who will be remembered as being "giving, fair, and incredibly supportive of all the students and staff in our district," district staff wrote.
