A woman confessed on Wednesday to fatally stabbing a man at his Billings apartment in December 2022.
21-year-old Elecia Railah Bearcomesout pleaded guilty in Yellowstone County District Court to charges of mitigated deliberate homicide and tampering with evidence. This admission followed initial charges of deliberate homicide related to the death of Joseph Sean Little Sr.
Elecia Railah Bearcomes out speaks with her attorney, Joseph Gorman, prior to pleading guilty in Yellowstone County District Court to counts of mitigated deliberate homicide and tampering with evidence on July 17, 2024.
Paul Hamby
“Due to the severity of the case,” Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito stated, “we will be recommending the maximum sentence.”
The investigation into the homicide by detectives from the Billings Police Department commenced shortly after Little’s body was discovered at his apartment near Grand Avenue and 28th Street West. A neighbor entered his apartment after not seeing him for several days, found his body on a couch facing the front door, and promptly alerted the authorities.
People are also reading…
The Montana medical examiner determined that Little had died from stab wounds, with lacerations to his neck and chest. The 39-year-old victim from Lame Deer, and a father of six, was found to have had bleach poured on his clothes at the time of his death, according to court documents.
Within a day of Little’s death, detectives identified Bearcomesout as a person of interest in the case. She declined to give a statement but allowed them to collect a buccal swab and extract data from her cell phone. The data revealed messages where she admitted to a mistake, with one message suggesting she might face a lengthy prison sentence.
In the summer of 2023, Bearcomesout cooperated with detectives, admitting to staying with Little at his Billings apartment prior to the stabbing. She was homeless before that. Due to freezing weather, another woman joined them. Bearcomesout considered her a “sister.” On December 5, 2022, Bearcomesout claimed to have stabbed Little multiple times after witnessing him making advances towards the other woman.
Charges against Bearcomesout were filed by Yellowstone County prosecutors in late June 2023. She pleaded not guilty to deliberate homicide and has been in custody at Yellowstone County Detention Facility since, with a bond set at $300,000.
Bearcomesout personally appeared in court for her plea hearing, accompanied by a Yellowstone County deputy. Through her attorney, Joseph Gorman, she described the events of the day she killed Little. She recounted waking up on December 3, 2022, after days of drinking, witnessing Little on top of the other woman, who was protesting.
Bearcomesout intervened, taking Little off the woman, who then grabbed a knife from the kitchen. She struck Little multiple times before Bearcomesout took the knife and fatally stabbed him.
According to Twito, mitigated deliberate homicide differs from deliberate homicide, as it involves an objective reason for the murder. In Bearcomesout’s case, these reasons were her unstable living situation and the stress of seeing her friend in a vulnerable position.
During the plea hearing, Bearcomesout also confessed to disposing of the murder weapon, the knife, in a nearby canal shortly after the crime.
The county prosecutors are recommending a 50-year prison sentence for Bearcomesout: 40 years for mitigated deliberate homicide and 10 years for tampering with evidence. Her sentencing is set for September.
Since 2020, the BPD has investigated over 60 homicides, with a significant rise in murders in Billings since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of these deaths have been due to gunfire. Yellowstone County has recorded at least 10 homicides so far this year.
Yellowstone County District Judge Colette Davies oversaw Bearcomesout’s plea hearing. Following its conclusion, she was returned to custody at YCDF.
