Helena man charged in connection with August shooting

A 22-year-old Helena man was charged with two felony counts of attempted deliberate homicide and two felony counts of assault with a weapon after allegedly shooting and injuring two men on Aug. 18.

Jory Jerae Songer was served an arrest warrant Monday at the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center, where he was already in custody for another incident.

Around 1 a.m. Aug. 18, officers responded to the 800 block of Abbey Street for a report of an assault with a weapon. Authorities discovered two males who had been shot, and the suspect had fled the scene. The two victims were transported to the hospital via ambulance and neither suffered life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

According to a press release from the Helena Police Department Tuesday, authorities identified the suspect after spending several days sifting through surveillance footage provided by Helena Housing Authority and surrounding businesses and schools.

Documents filed in Lewis and Clark County District Court say the footage shows the suspect vehicle, which had been reported as stolen a few days before the shooting, stopping on the north side of the Stewart Homes apartment complex. Someone got out of the vehicle and walked toward the south end of the building, where the shooting occurred two minutes later.

The residence was occupied by a man and his young child. On the night of the shooting, the man's nephew and the nephew's friend were staying the night.

While the young child was asleep inside, the male resident, a friend, the nephew and the nephew's friend were outside socializing when someone in a mask and all black clothing including a hoodie approached them. There was a verbal altercation before the masked man started shooting, court records say.

Authorities arrived and found the male resident on the ground outside the apartment with a gunshot wound to his thigh. The man’s friend was outside with a shot to his left forearm. Six shell casings recovered from the area indicated that the two were shot by a 40-caliber semi-automatic pistol.

Both the nephew and his friend said they could feel bullets hitting the ground near their feet before they ran inside to avoid being shot.

The suspect ran toward Butte Avenue. Surveillance footage shows the suspect vehicle heading west on Butte Avenue, then turning onto Cooke Street, and then down an alley in the general direction the suspect was last seen heading. Officials and two witnesses believe Songer was picked up by the stolen vehicle after the shooting.

The stolen vehicle was recovered Aug. 19 in Helena’s Yesco parking lot, after an employee reported she saw a man and his dog sleeping in it the day before.

The vehicle was searched, and a Great Northern parking garage ticket with the date Aug. 15 was found inside. A Helena Parking Commission employee said the vehicle was parked on the upper level for several days.

On the morning of Aug. 17, a man and a woman and their dog entered the vehicle in the parking garage. The man and dog looked similar to those the Yesco employee described. The man entering the car was identified as Shay McPhee after an officer recognized him and his dog.

A bowl of barbecue wings from Walmart was found in the vehicle. Walmart surveillance footage showed McPhee and a woman allegedly stealing the wings and other items before driving away in the stolen vehicle. Authorities recognized the woman as Patience Walker (Davis) based on prior encounters with her.

On Sept. 9, an officer recognized McPhee in a vehicle with Songer. McPhee was arrested for outstanding warrants unrelated to the shooting investigation.

Songer gave authorities a false name and then ran away. The officer contacted Probation and Parole after learning Songer was on probation with a request to search his backpack after spotting drug paraphernalia inside the vehicle. A significant amount of meth and a scale were found inside the backpack, along with a white half-face mask with a depiction of a skull on it. Songer was later arrested for the drugs and booked into Lewis and Clark County Detention Center.

Officials interviewed McPhee on Sept. 9, and he admitted to using the stolen vehicle with Walker (Davis) because he thought it was hers. He denied being involved in the shooting and requested an attorney.

On Sept. 13. Walker (Davis) was arrested for outstanding warrants unrelated to the shooting. She admitted to stealing the vehicle and using it with McPhee. She initially denied being involved in the shooting, but later admitted to driving the stolen vehicle to the Stewart Homes complex around the time of the shooting to drop off Songer on the north end so that he could visit some friends who lived there.

She could not provide an exact time of when this occurred because she stated that she was using drugs at the time. Her recollection of the route she drove matched that on video surveillance. She said she was on her way to a Town Pump gas station when Songer got in the car again and said he couldn’t find his friends. She stated she did not expect to see Songer again that night.

Walker (Davis) denied knowing about the shooting. She stated she didn’t end up going to the Town Pump but couldn’t provide a reason why. She then drove to East Helena in a round-about way.

On Sept. 14, Songer was interviewed by authorities. Songer stated the shooting “wasn’t planned.” He also admitted to using drugs that day.

Songer then backtracked and denied knowing anything about the shooting besides what he had heard. He said, “It wasn’t a planned hit. I wasn’t there, though.” Songer ended the interview by stating “It was not a planned assassination. I had no involvement, and I don’t wanna talk.”

All are presumed innocent until proven guilty.