Helena woman in SUV identified as victim of fatal shooting

She was found about 9:30 p.m. in white sport utility vehicle near Prospect Avenue and Washington Street with a gunshot wound to the chest. She was breathing but unresponsive, officials said.

Helena police and firefighters tried to revive her. Johnson was pronounced dead at St. Peter’s Health at 10:02 p.m., officials with the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s/Coroner’s Office said Tuesday.

Kenneth William Greene, 62, who officials said was a former boyfriend, was charged with deliberate homicide Monday in Lewis and Clark County Justice Court.

Bond for Greene was set by Lewis and Clark County Justice of the Peace Mark Piskolich at $750,000.

If found guilty, he faces a punishable term of imprisonment of not less than 10 years and a maximum sentence of 100 years or life imprisonment.

Witnesses told officers a man in a gold sedan pulled in front of Johnson, blocking her vehicle.

He walked toward the driver’s-side window and fired a pistol into the vehicle at her and then drove away, witnesses state in court documents.

Johnson’s boyfriend told police Greene had been following them and that the woman and Greene had dated but had broken up.

Officers learned Greene was being supervised by probation and parole for a previous case and was required to wear an ankle monitor. The ankle monitor was cut off on Beechnut Street in East Helena, according to court documents. Greene was charged in September 2021 with felony assault with a weapon in Custer County and sentenced in February 2022. Greene was sentenced to 10 years to the Department of Corrections with a partially suspended sentence.

Around 7:30 a.m. Saturday, a Helena police officer arrested Greene, who was barefoot, at a gazebo in Morrison Park with a .40-caliber pistol near the location. He also had a ferret with him, authorities said.

Greene was listed on the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center inmate roster as of June 26.