Molly Wetsch/South Dakota News Watch
A lawsuit filed against the U.S. Marshals Service after the shooting death of a young man on the Yankton Indian Reservation in 2024 has been dismissed and the case has been closed. It represents the presumed end of a long saga that questioned the actions of federal officers on tribal land.
Zander Zephier, 23, was killed Nov. 27, 2024, just north of Wagner, about 40 minutes after deputy marshals arrived to arrest him on an outstanding warrant.
His family filed a civil lawsuit in February alleging a violation of Zephier’s constitutional rights and asking for $150 million. That came after the Department of Justice rejected the federal torts claim the family filed in May 2025, which would have settled the case without a lawsuit.
The case was dismissed without prejudice, which means that while the case itself has been dismissed, the plaintiff has the right to bring forward additional lawsuits based on the same legal grounds. Both parties must agree to dismiss the case.
The dismissal document was filed on May 28 by Nicole Griese, the attorney for the Zephier family. Griese did not respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit said that “USMS failed to coordinate with the Yankton Sioux Tribal Police, Tribal Criminal Investigators, or other tribal authorities prior to executing the warrant, in violation of DOJ directives governing operations in Indian Country,” used excessive force when attempting to arrest Zephier and “severely traumatized” his great-grandmother, Conceta Zephier, who is wheelchair-bound and remained in the home while the raid was being conducted.
Background on the case
On Nov. 27 2024, deputy marshals arrived at Zephier’s family home north of Wagner at 8:37 a.m. About 30 minutes later, they began throwing gas grenades into the home. At 9:46 a.m., Zephier was pronounced dead at Wagner Community Memorial Hospital. His death certificate said he died primarily of a gunshot wound to the head and also had gunshot wounds in his back, chest and arm.
The deputy marshals were serving a warrant for Zephier’s arrest. He was considered an escaped inmate from Charles Mix County Jail after leaving with permission for a family funeral that July and not returning.
Zephier’s family did not dispute his criminal record, which included a federal conviction for abusive sexual contact with a minor, but told News Watch in 2024 that his death should warrant an independent investigation.
“Why shoot him?” Zephier’s grandmother, Jennifer, said at the time. “Why can’t you tase him, you know, or find some other way of getting him to where you can handcuff him and take him to jail?”
Case claims delay of medical aid, ‘visible suffering’
The lawsuit stated that the deputy marshals – who are still unnamed – spent 40 minutes from their arrival at the Zephier residence to Zephier’s death. It says that the timeline is “sharply contrasting with other USMS operations involving barricaded subjects, which often last hours, involve negotiation, contacting back-up intra-agency law enforcement, and methods of de-escalation to prevent death.”
The lawsuit also says that marshals delayed medical aid to Zephier while laughing and taking photos in the front yard of the residence where Zephier was shot, after shooting Zephier “despite visible suffering and non-threatening behavior.”
“He deserved better than what happened to him here,” Zephier’s brother, Zane Zephier, said during a vigil for Zander in late 2024. “Our people deserve better, and I want you all to know I’m not leaving any stone unturned. We’re going to find the truth, and we’re looking at every option until we find it. They will come to know that we as a people stand up for our families. And they will know that we will fight against injustice when it shows itself in our home.”