RAPID CITY, S.D. – The final two defendants charged in the death of Michael Ladeaux have entered plea agreements in Pennington County.
Thirty-five-year-old Dustin Yatsayte and 25-year-old Joshua Thunderhawk pleaded guilty Thursday to aiding and abetting first-degree manslaughter. Both had originally been charged with second-degree murder and were scheduled to go to trial next week.
Prosecutors say the two men assaulted Ladeaux in a hallway at the Oxford Square Apartments in Rapid City in September of last year, causing fatal injuries.
In court, Yatsayte’s attorney said his client admitted to striking Ladeaux but did not deliver the fatal blow.
Both men will be sentenced in October. Under the plea agreements, prosecutors will seek no more than 40 years in prison for Thunderhawk and no more than 15 years for Yatsayte.
A murder charge against a third defendant, Tyler Iron Boy, was dismissed last week.
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