Court filings shed light on Crook County slaying

A Christmas Valley man killed last week just outside of Prineville was shot in the head with a handgun during a drive-by shooting after a drug deal, according to court documents.

An affidavit filed in Crook County Circuit Court said 25 year-old Michael Donovan of Prineville used a 45 Hi Point handgun to kill 39-year-old James Ross Scott in the early morning of Sept. 3 while Scott was driving with his girlfriend about 10 miles south of Prineville on Davis Loop in the Juniper Canyon area.

Donovan also was charged with attempting to murder Scott’s girlfriend, Kindr Bork, who told police she was in the passenger seat of the truck when another truck drove past them shooting in their direction three or four times.

According to the court filings, Bork told sheriff’s Deputy Tim Durheim she “heard the shots and ducked down low in the cab.” She also told Durheim she sat up when it was clear and saw Scott was slumped over in the driver’s seat. She said she started to check for a pulse but just “knew he was dead.”

The report goes on to say that Bork saw the truck was returning. She told police she then got out of Scott’s truck and ran under a fence to hide behind some trees.

Bork told investigators the truck was with another car that she thought was following them, a vehicle she recognized from a drug deal Scott had discussed earlier in the day at the Prineville 7-Eleven, which took place later at the intersection of Southeast Cayuse Road and Umatilla Loop, near the community well.

Bork told police after the deal, she drove Scott home, where he “threw some cash at her” and said the “dope he had just sold was not very good.”

It was later, when Scott and Bork were driving to drop off a can of gas to a friend, that Bork told investigators Scott’s truck began having engine trouble and died. She said that’s when the truck and car that were following them sped toward them and someone in the truck began firing.

A few hours after Scott was found dead, Donovan called police to report that his Toyota Tacoma truck, with a handgun in it, was stolen.

Responding officers reported Donovan was “emotionally upset and crying while making the report.” He also told them he’d been using drugs.

The court documents also show police decided to call Donovan in for an interview after they learned a truck had been involved in a shooting.

During his time with investigators, the filing said Donovan told his mother he “was going to prison.” The report also stated he told his girlfriend over the phone he was going to prison because he “shot someone last night.”

The report says Donovan took police to where he’d hidden his truck in some trees off Davis Loop.

Donovan is scheduled to appear in court on Monday to face charges of murder, attempted murder, manslaughter and unlawful use of a weapon.