Drake Ingalls says he fired to protect a woman, but investigators say she denied being assaulted by the man who was killed.

NEWCASTLE, Wyo. — A South Dakota man facing a second-degree murder charge says he fired one shot at a Newcastle man because he believed the woman he had just met through Tinder was being attacked, setting up a homicide case centered on two sharply different accounts of the moments before the gunfire.

Drake Alexander Ingalls of Belle Fourche was bound over to Weston County District Court after a preliminary hearing in August in the death of Jason Greene. Ingalls does not dispute that he fired the shot that killed Greene early Aug. 9, according to court records and statements from his attorney. The dispute is over what Ingalls believed he saw at Greene’s home and whether the circumstances justified his use of deadly force. The woman who was with Ingalls told investigators that Greene had not physically assaulted her and that Ingalls did not need to fire, according to the probable cause affidavit.

The difference between those accounts emerged almost immediately in the investigation. Ingalls told Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agents that he had been waiting outside when he heard the woman yelling for help. He said he retrieved a 9 mm Glock Model 17 from his car, chambered a hollow-point round and approached the residence. He told investigators he then saw Greene behind the woman near the doorway, with his arms under hers and a hand near the back of her head or hair. Ingalls said he believed Greene was trying to pull her into the home. He said he pointed the handgun at Greene and told him to release her before firing one shot when Greene did not comply.

The woman gave investigators a materially different description. She said there had been a heated verbal argument with Greene but denied that he assaulted her or that the two were engaged in a physical struggle, according to the affidavit. She told investigators that she did not see the actual shooting and said Ingalls did not need to use the gun. An investigator noted an abrasion on her knee but reported no other visible injuries, bruising or evidence that her hair had been pulled. She also acknowledged drinking several alcoholic beverages and said she was highly intoxicated and may have blacked out during portions of the night, according to the court filing.

The encounter began hours earlier as a first in-person meeting between Ingalls and the woman. Investigators said the two had met through Tinder and had communicated before Ingalls drove from Belle Fourche to Newcastle on Aug. 8. Their accounts differed on whether they had been talking for several weeks or several months. Court documents say they spent time driving around Newcastle, drinking and visiting a local bar. At some point, the woman received an insulting text message from Greene, whom she described in the local court record as a former casual partner. The message changed the direction of the evening and eventually brought the pair to Greene’s residence.

According to the probable cause affidavit, the woman asked Ingalls to drive her to Greene’s home so she could talk to him. She told Ingalls that Greene had mistreated or abused her in the past and told him to help if he heard her yell. Investigators said Greene did not know they were coming. After they arrived, the woman went to the home while Ingalls initially remained away from the doorway. A loud argument followed. What Ingalls believed he saw after responding to her yelling, and what the woman says actually happened, now form a central factual conflict in the criminal case.

Police were called at about 4:54 a.m. Officers arriving at the residence found Ingalls and the woman outside, according to the affidavit. The woman appeared frantic, and officers reported signs that both had consumed alcohol. Ingalls immediately told an officer he had shot someone in the chest and said the firearm was in his vehicle. Police detained him and recovered the Glock from the center console area of his red Toyota Camry. Inside the home, officers found Greene on the floor between the hallway and living room. Emergency medical personnel confirmed that he had died.

Investigators also documented physical evidence near the entrance. Court records say a silver 9 mm shell casing was found outside, about 3 to 4 feet from the side entrance. Ingalls told investigators that he fired from roughly 10 to 12 feet away while the woman was positioned in front of Greene. He said he could see Greene’s chest and believed the shot struck him there. After the gunfire, court documents say Ingalls and the woman got into his car and drove around the block before returning while she called 911. Newcastle Police Chief Derek Thompson then asked the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation to take over the case.

Ingalls’ attorney, David Holmes, has said the defense expects to argue that Ingalls acted in defense of another person. Holmes said after the preliminary hearing that Ingalls had never met Greene before that night and believed he was responding to danger facing the woman. Holmes also said his client intended to plead not guilty. Those statements describe the defense position and have not been accepted as findings of fact. Prosecutors, meanwhile, secured a finding at the preliminary stage sufficient to send the second-degree murder charge to District Court, where the case can proceed toward arraignment and further pretrial litigation.

Under Wyoming law, second-degree murder applies when a person purposely and maliciously, but without premeditation, kills another person. A conviction carries a prison term of at least 20 years and may result in a life sentence. The legal question is distinct from the factual disagreements in the affidavit: prosecutors ultimately would have to prove the charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt, while any defense-of-another claim would be evaluated under Wyoming law and the evidence admitted in court. The preliminary proceedings do not determine guilt, and Ingalls is presumed innocent unless proved guilty.

The investigation has also produced facts that do not neatly resolve the competing accounts. The woman had told Ingalls before arriving that Greene had abused her and that he should respond if she called for help, according to the affidavit. Investigators also say she did yell loudly during the confrontation. At the same time, she later denied that Greene physically attacked her and disputed the necessity of the shot. Her acknowledged intoxication adds another issue for lawyers to examine, but the available court filings do not establish which portions of either account a future judge or jury will credit.

The case therefore turns on more than the undisputed fact that Ingalls fired the weapon. Investigators have statements about what he says prompted the shot, statements from the woman contradicting the physical confrontation he described, scene evidence and the sequence of conduct before and after Greene was killed. Those details may become the focus of motions, testimony and cross-examination as the prosecution and defense develop their cases. No trial findings have established that Ingalls’ description or the woman’s description is the definitive account of the confrontation.

Ingalls was initially held on a $250,000 cash-only bond. Conditions attached to any release included GPS monitoring, restrictions on alcohol and firearms, no contact with the woman and limits on travel without court permission. After the August preliminary hearing, he was bound over to Weston County District Court on the second-degree murder charge. The most recent reporting reviewed for this article did not establish a later final disposition of the case.

Author note: Last updated Sept. 22, 2026.