11/9/09 Terrebonne

By Doug Johnson

Investigators, neighbors, friends and family of 14-year-old Justin Butler are trying to make sense of the tragic events which took his life. Adding another layer of heartbreak for his family, Monday night, Crook County Sheriff deputies arrested Justin's cousin, 21-year-old Brandon Hornseth.

"Everybody's in shock, you know and he's such a young man, I mean these things happen in town, they don't happen out here," says Meloni Platt, who lives down the road from the Butler Ranch.

Justin was found dead in an RV early Sunday morning, with a gunshot wound to the head. He was on an elk hunt with his family, on their private ranch on Northwest Lone Pine Road in Terrebonne. His family told sheriff deputies they heard gunshots just after 3 am. When they turned on the lights, they found the bullets had entered the motorhome, hitting and killing Justin. On Monday the Sheriff's office says it found two spent rounds from a semi-automatic rifle near the scene. That lead deputies to search Hornseth's car, where they found an SKS rifle. Hornseth, who works for the ranch, has been charged with manslaughter, reckless endangering and pointing a firearm at another. Investigators are still looking into a motive. Justin was a freshman at Culver High School. His middle school health teacher, John Spinelli, says Justin always could make the other kids laugh.

"He was a great kid, great sense of humor, good student had a lot of friends, always got along with everybody, very respectful, just the kid you'd love to have a class full of kids like that," Spinelli says.

News of the incident has left many at the small school in disbelief.

"Especially the 7th and 8th grade teachers who've had him for two years are definitely taking it hard; tough night and it's a big loss for our school," says Spinelli.

A crisis counciling team will be avalible Tuesday morning for students at Culver High School.