Billings, Montana – In Billings, a man named Loren Cody Smoker, 24, is facing serious charges after allegedly pursuing and shooting another man following an altercation during a drug transaction. The incident led to Smoker’s arraignment via video link from the Yellowstone County jail on Tuesday, where he was charged with deliberate homicide and tampering with evidence. A judge, acting on Smoker’s behalf, entered pleas of not guilty, and his bail was set at $300,000.
The victim, 27-year-old Dennis Fabian Rolon, succumbed to a gunshot wound to the head. Following the shooting, it is reported that Smoker attempted to conceal both the vehicle he was using and the gun involved in the crime.
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The events unfolded around 2 a.m. on a Sunday at a house on Country Manor Boulevard. Initially, police were dispatched to investigate a fight at this location. However, while en route, they received another call about a shooting near Central Avenue and Shiloh Road. Upon arrival, police discovered Rolon dead, slumped inside a car in the southbound lane of Shiloh Road with a fatal head wound. He was declared dead shortly after at a local hospital in Billings. The car showed multiple bullet impacts on the driver’s side.
Two passengers in the car identified Loren Cody Smoker as the shooter, revealing that he had initially contacted them to buy drugs. According to them, an argument erupted and escalated into a physical altercation at Smoker’s apartment located on Country Manor Boulevard. After the fight, Dennis Fabian Rolon and the two passengers left in a car, but Smoker pursued them in a separate vehicle. Near the intersection of Shiloh and Central, Smoker caught up with them, pulled alongside Rolon’s car, and fired several shots before speeding away.
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Police later found Smoker at a house on the North Side, where he was arrested. They also recovered the vehicle he had used during the chase and the gun involved in the shooting, according to court records.
