Loren Cody Smoker of Billings is alleged to have chased down and opened fire at a man following a fight during a drug deal and was charged Tuesday in Yellowstone County District Court.
Smoker, 24 years old, appeared in court for arraignment by video from the Yellowstone County jail where a judge entered not guilty pleas on his behalf to felony charges of deliberate homicide and tampering with evidence.
Smoker is accused of shooting and killing 27-year-old Dennis Fabian Rolan, who died of a gunshot wound to the head. Prosecutors allege after the shooting Smoker hid the car he was driving and the firearm used in the fatal shooting.
According to police and court records, the fatal encounter began at about 2 a.m. Sunday at a residence on Country Manor Boulevard. Officers were called to that residence for a report of a fight, but as they were responding they received another call of a shooting in the area of Central Avenue and Shiloh Road.
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When officers arrived they found Rolon slumped over in a car that was stopped in the southbound lane of Shiloh Road. He had been shot in the head and died a short time later at a Billings hospital. Officers found several bullet holes in the driver's side of the car.
Two people who were passengers in the car identified the shooter as Smoker, who they said had contacted them earlier about obtaining drugs. An argument broke out, they said, and the three of them drove to Smoker's apartment on Country Manor Boulevard where the argument turned into a fight.
Rolon left with the two others in a car, but the trio were chased in another vehicle driven by Smoker, court records state. Around Shiloh and Central, Smoker pulled up next to the car driven by Rolon and fired several shots before driving away, court records state.
Officers eventually found Smoker at a residence on the North Side where he was arrested. Officers also later retrieved the vehicle Smoker was driving and the firearm used in the shooting, court records state.
