Prineville man held in fatal shooting of Christmas Valley man

A 25-year-old Prineville man is due for arraignment Tuesday afternoon on murder and other charges in the fatal early-Thursday shooting of a Christmas Valley man, whose body was found in a car in the Juniper Canyon area southeast of Prineville, Crook County sheriff’s deputies said.

A day-long investigation led to the arrest of Michael Cory Donovan in the death of James Ross Scott, 39, said Undersheriff John Gautney.

Donovan was booked into the county jail and held without bail on the murder charge, also facing charges of attempted murder and unlawful use of a weapon.

Gautney said earlier Monday deputies had been called to Southeast Davis Loop and Cayuse Road, about 10 miles south-southeast of Prineville, around 5 a.m. and found a man dead of a gunshot wound in a vehicle.

Davis Loop and the area was closed while the Central Oregon Major Incident Team was activated, bringing numerous detectives from the region to the scene for the investigation.

Gautney said the investigation continued late in the day over “a very large area with multiple scenes to investigate.”

Earlier in the day, the undersheriff had asked that people refrain from calling the sheriff’s office and 911 dispatchers, as the flood of requests for information was “creating an issue with handling other calls.”

Gautney said more information would be released as the investigation progresses.