Amelia Schafer/ICT
ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. — Sahela Sangrait’s family, friends and community aren’t done demanding justice for her.
Roughly one dozen community members gathered outside Ellsworth Air Force Base on April 17, in 30-degree weather and snowfall, to insist on accountability and transparency in her case.
Federal prosecutors have charged United States Airman Quinterius Chappelle with first degree murder in the 2024 homicide of Sahela “Toka Win” Sangrait, who was Mnicoujou Lakota. Prosecutors believe the crime took place at Chappelle’s residence on the Air Force Base.
Sangrait’s remains were found on March 4, 2025 in a remote area near Black Elks Peak in the Black Hills National Forest. Black Elk Peak, also known as Hiŋháŋ Káǧa or Heȟáka Sápa, is significant to the Lakota people. Sangrait was found under a distinct coffee table which law enforcement traced to a matching set in Chappelle’s residence.
Chappelle was charged on March 17, 2025. He has since pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
“There’s this lack of transparency,” said Darlene Gomez, an attorney representing Sangrait’s family. “We’ve seen a whole slew of women being killed and their families have to seek that justice because the federal government is not going to seek that.”
The protest, organized by a Rapid City-based advocacy organization called the Medicine Wheel Ride, was done in an effort to push for openness and communication from the base. Advocates say officials on the base could have prevented this crime.
“We’re being left unheard and nobody wants to take the time to listen to us,” said Rhamie Light Bone, a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who participated in the protest.
Light Bone said she did not know Sangrait personally but felt called to the event to help stand up disproportionate levels of against violence against Indigenous women nationwide.
“I want her voice to be heard because she cannot speak for herself,” Light Bone said.
What happened
The night of Sangrait’s homicide, Box Elder law enforcement responded to reports of a domestic dispute at Chappelle’s on-base residence. Officers left the property without contacting anyone inside, according to court documents filed in the Chappelle case.
Sangrait’s friends and family attempted to report her missing on Aug. 11, 2024 and again in January 2025, but Box Elder Police did not report her missing until Feb. 10, 2025.
Air Force supervisors required Chappelle to report to Rapid City Police on August 12, 2024, when he arrived at work with scratch marks on his face, according to court documents.
Before the homicide, several Airmen sought protection orders against Chapelle claiming he made threats to shoot up the Air Force base, according to federal court documents. An internal investigation revealed an alleged “hit list” made by Chapelle listing fellow Airmen and supervisors.
Chappelle was involved in a separate domestic violence case handled internally by Air Force authorities. He was court-martialed in February 2024, according to Jesse Fagerland, a sergeant with the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. He was disciplined in November of that year, two months after the alleged murder. Chappelle also violated no contact orders twice, according to Fagerland.
Fagerland testified during Chappelle’s March 28 arraignment in the Sangrait case.
Community members worry that Box Elder law enforcement officials were not aware of domestic violence charges made within the base against Chappelle, and if they were, they could have responded differently.
“I do have a lot of questions because it appears that there were a lot of steps missing and inconsistent with police policies,” said Gomez, the Sangrait family’s attorney. “The fact that Quinterius already had a history of domestic violence and strangulation and in this case was pending some type of court martial and was out and about doing his thing.”
Additional defendants, suspect
Sangrait’s autopsy report completed on March 10, 2025, showed three separate sets of DNA under Sangrait’s fingernails, one set of female DNA and two sets of male. Drew Durand, a 25-year-old Box Elder woman, has since been charged with accessory after the fact and misprision of a felony in connection with Sangrait’s homicide. Gomez said she wants to know why the other man has yet to be charged.
“I haven’t seen any kind of follow up,” about him, Gomez said.
A federal jury trial is scheduled to begin May 26 for Durand. Chappelle’s trial was previously scheduled for the same date, but has since been postponed with no new trial date set.
Gomez said the family plans to file a civil lawsuit in the case, but did not say who the defendant or defendants might be.
Sangrait’s funeral services are scheduled for the night of April 17 in Rapid City, South Dakota, at Woyatan Lutheran Church.
“The more people that know Sahela’s story, the less likely she is to be forgotten,” Gomez said.