This update is a few days behind, but I hope the fact that it’s excellent news makes up for that.

49-year-old James Sasser Jr. was sentenced last week to 100 years in prison for the murder of his grandson, 12-year-old James Alexander “Alex” Hurley, in the family’s home in West Yellowstone, Montana in February of 2020.

I’ve been following the case since it happened, and this news was a massive relief to hear.

Articles:

West Yellowstone man sentenced to 100 years for role in grandson’s murder (Bozeman Chronicle)

West Yellowstone man sentenced to 100 years behind bars in connection to grandson’s death (MTN News)

West Yellowstone man sentenced to 100 years in grandson’s beating death (Billings Gazette/AP News)

Side note: You may have noticed I haven’t been updating the blog much, and oftentimes when I do, I’m posting links rather than writing my own articles. That’s a direct result of being plagiarized last fall. The content thief experienced zero consequences. (Thanks, YouTube!) Rather than continue to pursue him, which was already tanking my mental health, I chose to abandon my quest to “bring him to justice” and instead, I simply don’t often post my writing on the blog for content thieves to read verbatim and claim as their own content.

Regarding Alex’s case, only his grandmother, Patricia Batts, continues to await trial. The other three defendants (Alex’s aunt Madison Sasser; teenage uncle James Sasser III; and family friend Gage Roush) all pleaded guilty and have been sentenced.

Read more of my coverage on Alex’s case here.

My podcast episode about Alex is here (be gentle; I was still new at podcasting!). I also gave updates about Alex’s case in episodes 43 and 86.