BILLINGS - A Billings man accused of shooting another man in the face and leg has been charged in Yellowstone County District Court.
Joseph Dean Lira, 52, pleaded not guilty Thursday to a charge of attempted deliberate homicide with a weapons enhancement. He is being held in the Yellowstone County jail on a $500,000 bond.
According to court records, the shooting happened in the early morning hours of July 14 at a shop off Fourth Avenue North. Officers responding to a 911 call found the victim, identified in court records by the initials S.H., inside the building suffering from gunshot wounds.
The victim was able to identify the assailant as Lira, who he said attacked him as he arrived at the shop where he had been living. S.H. said Lira and another man attacked him inside the building, and Lira first shot him in the leg, beat him with the gun, kicked him, and then placed the gun to his face and pulled the trigger.
"He said there was no words exchanged and the Defendant just shot him," prosecutors said in court records.
The victim said the attack stopped when the other man said: "He's dead, let's go."
The gunshot to the face entered on the left bridge area of his nose, near the inner corner of his eye, and exited at his right ear, court records state.
Investigators later determined that the victim's motorcycle had been stolen. The motorcycle was later recovered and Lira was arrested recently on a warrant.
