SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Two people have reached plea agreements in the murder case of a Wagner, South Dakota man.
On December 21, 2020, George Cournoyer Jr. was found dead in his home. Court documents say an autopsy determined the cause of death to be blunt force injuries. Nine months later, Alexis Delarosa, a Texas man, and Justina Tuttle, a Niobrara, Nebraska, woman, were indicted on charges of second degree murder and assault.
Court documents say they beat Cournoyer with a hammer and a baseball bat. Originally, the pair pleaded not guilty to the charges in January of last year. However, those pleas have since changed.
In May, Tuttle pleaded guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily injury and assault with a dangerous weapon. The second degree murder charge was dropped and she was sentenced to over six years in federal prison.
Friday, Delarosa pleaded guilty to second degree murder — the assault charges were dropped. Under this plea agreement, Delarosa faces a sentence of life in prison.