Attorney General’s Office secures life sentence in West Yellowstone homicide case

HELENA – A West Yellowstone woman who pleaded guilty in May in Gallatin County District Court to multiple charges following the death of her grandson, including deliberate homicide, was handed a life sentence in accordance with the plea agreement made with the State, Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced.

Patricia Batts admitted to deliberate homicide of her 12-year-old grandson James Alex Hurley in 2020, with the assistance of James Sasser III, at her home in West Yellowstone. She also admitted to failing to provide medical attention to Alex after he was severely assaulted and to tampering with the testimony of witnesses by trying to get family members to provide false statements to law enforcement.

For deliberate homicide, Batts was sentenced to the Montana State Women’s Prison for a life term; for criminal child endangerment, she was sentenced to the Montana State Women’s Prison for 10 years with no years suspended; and for tampering with witnesses and informants, she was sentenced to the Montana State Women’s Prison for 10 years with no years suspended. All sentences will run concurrently.

Last year, Sasser was sentenced to 100 years for deliberate homicide, felony child endangerment, and felony tampering with a witness for his role in Hurley’s death. Batts’ son has also been sentenced and other family members have been charged in connection with Hurley’s death.

Assistant Attorney General Stephanie Robles and Prosecution Services Bureau Chief Dan Guzynski prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant Attorney General Bjorn Boyer also performed substantial work on the case.