On August 20, 2023, Ashton Raine Provost, a 19-year-old Native American woman from Porcupine, South Dakota, and her unborn child were killed by a single gunshot wound to the chest. Provost, born August 1, 2004, in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, was a mother to a daughter and was expecting a second child. Family members described her as having a wild heart and soul, tough and sassy, someone who loved her family and laughed a lot.

Authorities arrested 20-year-old McKenzie Big Crow of Porcupine in connection with the deaths. Big Crow had a modified semi-automatic rifle altered to resemble an AK-47; he said the firearm accidentally discharged from a backpack after it bumped against a door. The single round struck Provost and she and her unborn baby died within minutes. The weapon was later found hidden under Big Crow’s bed, and tests showed he had marijuana, cocaine, MDMA, and methamphetamine in his system.

The matter began in tribal court and was moved to federal court; a federal grand jury returned an indictment in June 2024 including Second Degree Murder, violating the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, Discharge of a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime of Violence, and Possession of an Unregistered Firearm. Does anyone have information about Ashton’s last known movements or who else might have been present that day?