BILLINGS — A judge set bond at $1 million Tuesday for a man accused of causing the death of a mother and son while attempting to flee Billings police following a violent domestic assault.
Ricky Ladell Buckhanan, 32, pleaded not guilty to eight felony criminal offenses and a misdemeanor related to the incident Friday evening.
The bond was set at the high amount after prosecutors said Buckhanan has a felony criminal record in Mississippi where he is also currently wanted as a fugitive.
Prosecutors also noted the severe and violent nature of the most recent crimes that left two innocent people dead, four other members of a family injured and a woman traumatized.
Also on Tuesday, the Yellowstone County Coroner's Office released the names of the two people who were killed when their vehicle was struck in the intersection of Broadway Avenue and 24th Street West on Friday evening.
Killed in the crash were 78-year-old Shirley Rogers and her 54-year-old son, Shane Rogers, both of Billings.
Buckhanan has been charged with negligent homicide for the two deaths and four counts of criminal endangerment related to a family of four that was also injured in the three-vehicle crash. The four included a man, a woman, the couple's infant child, and the child's grandmother.
Prior to the crash, Buckhanan is accused of kidnapping his former girlfriend and assaulting her in a vehicle. He is charged with aggravated kidnapping and strangulation of a partner or family member for those offenses.
According to prosecutors, the woman was able to call 911 during the assault which was occurring in a church parking lot off Broadwater Avenue near 29th Street West. When an officer arrived in the parking lot Buckhanan allegedly shoved the woman out of the vehicle and sped off on Broadwater Avenue before causing the fatal crash a few blocks later.
