MTI group to attend funeral for victim of shooting

Some Mitchell Technical Institute instructors and others from the school hope to attend the funeral of an MTI student killed Saturday night in an apparent accidental shooting.

Matt Montag, 19, was killed when he was struck in the chest by a shotgun blast at a rented home in Mitchell, authorities say. A reported friend of his and fellow MTI student William Davis, 21, formerly of Burke, is in the Davison County Jail on a first-degree manslaughter charge. Davis is being held on a $100,000 cash bond.

Davison County State’s Attorney Pat Smith said a hearing scheduled for Thursday has been canceled.

Instead, Randall Connelly, of Rapid City, who has been hired as Davis’ lawyer, has asked for the preliminary hearing to be scheduled later this month.

A preliminary hearing is a requirement to show a judge that there is sufficient evidence to move ahead with the case, Smith said.

However, he noted, if a grand jury meets before that date and indicts Davis, the preliminary hearing would be canceled. There is always a grand jury impaneled, the county attorney said, but its schedule is not disclosed.

While the legal process begins, the family and friends of Montag are preparing for a memorial service and burial.

Funeral services for Montag will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Milbank.

Julie Brookbank, MTI’s director of marketing and public information, said people with ties to the school hope to attend the service.

“I am fairly certain they are indeed planning to go,” Brookbank said Tuesday afternoon.

In an obituary compiled by a funeral home, Montag was recalled as a “great outdoorsman.” He enjoyed being at Big Stone Lake, fishing and hunting.

His family said he could “fix anything, from the kids’ bikes to anything his mom needed.”

The obituary also stated that he “loved spending time with his friends and family” and had a “big heart, a caring spirit, and an infectious smile we will all miss.”

An edited version of the obituary appears on Page 11 of today’s Daily Republic. Both Montag and Davis were in their second year of MTI’s utilities technology program, Brookbank said.

They had completed propane and natural gas studies in their freshmen year and were studying powerline classes this year. That would have allowed them to earn associate degrees in utilities technology.

After earning such degrees, graduates often find work as linemen or combination technicians, she said.

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