Nova Allen Alexander, a 20-year-old from Rapid City, South Dakota, was killed on the night of November 29, 2021. He was at a gathering in a trailer home on Marquette Drive with about nine other people when Jesse Schmockel arrived carrying a gun. A burst of gunfire left Alexander fatally wounded and two others seriously injured; those two were transported for medical care.

Schmockel, described in court testimony as a 22-year-old woman from Kyle, South Dakota, was arrested the next day and initially charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault. A grand jury later returned an indictment that included first-degree manslaughter. She ultimately pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter for Alexander’s death and two counts of simple assault for the other victims.

At sentencing in December 2022 the judge noted Schmockel’s history of methamphetamine use and prior failures in treatment, imposed a 10-year suspended prison term with six years probation, 180 days in jail for the manslaughter count and an additional 365 days for the assault convictions, and credited her with 394 days already served. Probation requires counseling and abstinence from drugs, guns, and alcohol, with a warning that violations could trigger the full 10-year sentence.

Did anyone who knew Nova or was at the gathering on Marquette Drive that night come forward with additional information?