Jadie Butterfly

Jadie Butterfly, a 19-year-old Native American woman, was a promising student and a cherished role model to her four younger siblings. An avid athlete and graduate of Browning High School, she was studying at the University of Montana with plans to work in healthcare. Her father remembered her as a radiant person with a contagious laugh, saying, “She was our everything. Our breath. Our future. Our light.” In her memory, her family established a scholarship for graduating seniors from her high school.

On the evening of December 28, 2024, Jadie was at her boyfriend’s house in Browning, on the Blackfeet Reservation. After dinner, they went to his bedroom, where he showed her a pair of .357 revolvers he had received for Christmas. According to court documents, while he was playing with the firearms, he pointed one at Jadie and it discharged, striking her in the neck. He immediately yelled for help and family members called 911, but Jadie died at the scene. Her father, Chris Butterfly, had received a call about a shooting and rushed to the home, where law enforcement officers gave him the devastating news.

In the weeks that followed, Jadie’s family grew frustrated by a lack of communication from local law enforcement. To bring attention to the case and advocate for answers, they created a "Justice for Jadie" page on social media. The investigation eventually led to a federal grand jury indictment against her boyfriend, Treyson Sharp, who was 21 at the time. He was charged with involuntary manslaughter and possession of an unregistered firearm. Sharp also faced separate charges in Blackfeet Tribal Court, including assault, negligent endangerment, and obstruction of justice.

In October 2025, Sharp appeared in federal court in Great Falls and, as part of a plea agreement, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to drop the firearm charge. The decision was a disappointment to Jadie’s family, who had expressed their desire for the case to go to trial.

During a sentencing hearing in March 2026, several of Jadie’s friends and family members delivered victim impact statements, describing the profound and lasting void her death had created. One friend told the court, “Whenever she walked into a room, she was a big light. And that light is forever taken. And no sentence will ever bring her back.” A federal judge sentenced Treyson Sharp to 24 months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay a $5,000 fine.