By ARIELLE ZIONTS | Rapid City Journal | Published: May 5, 2021
(Tribune News Service) — Jesus Vance returned to Rapid City in October 2019 after graduating from high school at an Army base in Germany and immediately began working so he could save money before joining the military.
Eighteen months later, Jesus was found shot dead inside a Rapid City motel room.
"I didn't think it could happen to him," Stephanie Vance said of her nephew.
"Jesus didn't come from struggle. He had plenty of people who loved him and took care of him," Stephanie said during a phone call from her home in North Carolina. "I thought that my kid who knew better, who was raised better, who has family there, who has people looking out for him, I thought he would be safe enough."