Sebastian W. Olivares-Coster admitted Wednesday to intentionally shooting and trying to kill three teenage boys in a seemingly unprovoked attack that left one of the boys dead.

“I shot and killed one person and I shot and seriously injured two others, and I don’t know why,” Olivares-Coster said in District Court, after entering guilty pleas on one deliberate homicide charge and two counts of attempted deliberate homicide.

At that point, Lewis and Clark County Attorney Leo Gallagher said the teen needed to elaborate on his intent during the June 3 shooting on a Helena hillside, which left 16-year-old Cory Andrewski dead and injured Joey Wohlers, 16, and Kahner Leary, 15.

“He needs to say something different, your honor,” Gallagher told Judge Dorothy McCarter. “The requirement is that he acted purposely or knowingly to try and kill those two other people.”

McCarter explained to Olivares-Coster that more information was needed for the record.

“Did you know what you were doing at the time you did it?” she asked.

"Yes, he said.

McCarter then asked what his intent was at the time and what was going through his mind.

“My intention when I shot them was to kill them,” Olivares-Coster replied.

Olivares-Coster, who was 17 at the time of the incident, has been housed at the Lewis and Clark County jail since turning 18 in October.

Detention center officers were joined at the courthouse Wednesday by at least a dozen deputies and police officers. According to the officers, the extra security — including a seldom-used metal detector outside the courtroom door — was called for the protection of all the parties involved in the case.

During most of the hearing, Olivares-Coster, dressed in orange inmate clothing, with a long-sleeved tan thermal shirt underneath, stared straight ahead in the courtroom filled with his family and the families of the victims.

His mother and stepfather, along with his sister, sat behind him, fighting back tears. He didn’t acknowledge their presence at the hearing even though they sat less than a foot away.

By the end of the approximately 15-minute proceedings, Olivares-Coster was dabbing at his eyes and nose with tissues, trying to maintain his composure. As the courtroom emptied, he stood with his attorneys, and turned to watch the backs of his family members as they left, without saying a word.

His hands were cuffed in front of him then, and he was led from the courtroom and returned to his cell.

As soon as transportation can be arranged, Olivares-Coster will be taken to the state mental hospital in Warm Springs for a two-month evaluation. Gallagher said he found out two days prior to the Wednesday hearing that the defense could argue that their client is guilty but mentally ill.

According to his plea agreement, Olivares-Coster will be allowed to present evidence and testimony during his sentencing that he was suffering from a mental disease or defect at the time of the shooting that made him unable to know he was committing a crime or to be law abiding.

Authorities at the Montana State Hospital will assess Olivares-Coster’s mental state at the time of the shooting. If they find him to be mentally ill, hospital officials will make a recommendation about where he should be placed in custody.

This recommendation will be included in a pre-sentence investigation complied by a state probation and parole officer.

The findings of that investigation and Olivares-Coster’s mental-health assessment will be presented at his sentencing hearing, which is slated for Feb. 26 in McCarter’s court.

Olivares-Coster is facing life in prison or sentences of 10 to 100 years for each of the three charges. He originally entered not-guilty pleas to the charges on July 8.

A trial date was set, but then vacated last month when Olivares-Coster’s attorneys asked for Wednesday’s change of plea hearing.

According to court records, the shooting occurred after Olivares-Coster intervened in a texting argument between one of the injured victims and another boy over the affections of a 15-year-old girl. The three victims met with Olivares-Coster, who told them to follow him up a hill off South Rodney Street, where they would meet the other boy for a fight.

Wohlers and Leary told detectives that when they arrived, Olivares-Coster stated: “I’m not going to fight fair,” and then shot Andrewski in the head before shooting at them several times and severely wounding them.

A Helena man who has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of transferring a handgun to a juvenile for buying the .45-caliber pistol used in the shooting will be sentenced Monday. Jared T. Cox, 21, said Olivares-Coster gave him money to buy the gun and ammunition in May.

Court documents say Olivares-Coster told Cox he wanted the pistol for “home protection.” Cox faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Reporter Angela Brandt: 447-4078 or angela.brandt@helenair.com

Related

• Cox sentenced to 3 months