Billings woman sentenced to prison for hospital shooting

Although the footage did not capture any sound, the people in the image became visibly panicked just seconds after the footage began. A staff member was trying to calm and direct people in the waiting room. The woman and little girl fled into a bathroom. Gunfire sparked the panic, and a Billings woman was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in prison for fomenting the chaos.

“The place where parents and the community go when they need help has turned into an active shooting situation,” Yellowstone County District Judge Jessica T. Fehr said before ruling his sentence against the Panda Emily Aradia.

Last year, a Yellowstone County jury convicted Aradia of assault with a weapon and criminal endangerment. Aradia, 38, was arrested in fall 2022 after entering the Billings clinic with a loaded handgun. When a nurse began tending to Aradia for a mental health crisis, she pulled out the gun and pointed it at the nurse. A brief confrontation ensued that ended with Aradia shooting herself and a Billings police officer shooting her as well before she surrendered the gun. Aradia, who maintained her innocence throughout her sentencing, maintained that she never entered the Billings clinic to kill anyone.

Aradia bought the gun for protection and took it to the hospital loaded with a single bullet. It was while telling a triage nurse that the gun was part of her suicidal thoughts that Aradia pulled out the weapon. She then pointed the gun at the nurse and told him he had three minutes to get help.

In the moments that followed, Aradia never threatened to shoot the nurse or security guards who approached her in the triage room, defense attorney Montana Funk argued to jurors. The bullet fired by Aradia was an accident, she said. Jurors also heard from hospital staff, security guards and Billings Police Department officers called to the Billings clinic during Aradia's four-day trial. They deliberated for less than an hour before reaching their verdict.

Part of the sentence handed down Tuesday included hearing testimony regarding an additional charge filed against Aradia after his arrest in 2022. A friendship between Aradia and a former co-worker turned into an alleged campaign of harassment leading to the clinic shooting Billings. When that former co-worker refused to date Aradia, according to court documents, Aradia continued to try to contact the then 18-year-old woman and sent her unwanted gifts. At the time of the shooting, she was in the process of filing a restraining order against Aradia.

Senior Deputy County Attorney Autumn Thompson-Irish read a statement from the woman in court. She reiterated that she did not want, nor had she ever asked for, advances from Aradia. The experience left her nervous and in danger.

Law enforcement intercepted a package sent by Aradia while she was in custody at the Yellowstone County Detention Center. The package included a phone through which the woman could call Aradia and led to a criminal harassment charge. Days before Tuesday's sentencing, Aradia pleaded no contest to the charge. The young woman's parents told the court they have since installed security cameras around their home and now drive their youngest child to school rather than making him take the bus. The family also sold a car they suspected Aradia was trying to track.

Funk, who defended Aradia in court with Joseph Zavatsky, asked Judge Fehr for an eight-year commitment to the Montana Department of Corrections, with four years suspended. Aradia did not dispute that bringing a loaded handgun to the Billings clinic was dangerous and would cause people in the emergency department to fear for their lives. However, Aradia always maintained that she had gone to the hospital for treatment for suicidal ideation and did not want to be an active shooter, Funk said. This was evidenced by her eventually sliding her gun towards the responding officers and raising her hands in the air.

“On the day of the incident at the Billings clinic,” Funk said, “Ms. Aradia was taking responsibility for her emotions. She went to get help and was shot twice. It is evident that Ms. Aradia needs mental health support, mental health support that cannot be adequately provided in a prison setting.

Aradia, a transgender woman, would also have more treatment options available to her through the DOC than at the Montana women's prison, Funk said. There are several DOC facilities in the state, but only one prison. A DOC sentence would ensure society is protected, Funk argued, but would also ensure Aradia's safety while she serves her sentence. In a 2014 survey of 748 trans women who had served time in jail or prison, nearly half reported being victimized, and 25 percent reported being denied health care.

Yellowstone County Deputy Benjamin Langford, who also prosecuted the case, argued for a 20-year prison sentence, with a 10-year parole restriction. Aradia was faced with what everyone does at some point in their life, Langford said, and it was a rejection. Aradia responded to repeated refusals by arming himself, entering a hospital with a loaded gun, pointing that gun at a nurse and demanding help, he said.

Two former Billings clinic employees testified Tuesday that they now carry guns constantly following the shooting. Blaine Lane, the BPD officer who shot Aradia, said he underwent months of treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder because he had to use his weapon in the line of duty.

The memory of the shooting will stay with him for the rest of his life, Blaine said, and forced him to appreciate how quickly things can change in the blink of an eye. Lane has been with the department since 2020 and during that time opened fire on another suspect. In May 2022, he was one of six law enforcement officers who shot a 36-year-old man who fired a toy gun at police after a chase through Billings. Curtis Dean Yellowtail died from multiple gunshot wounds. Blaine, and later Judge Fehr, praised the Billings clinic nurses who stayed with patients during the standoff and shooting.

“This (case) probably had the biggest impact on our community and the fear of gun violence in places where we normally felt safe,” Fehr said.

Since 2022, at least 32 people have been shot and killed in and around Billings. Twelve of these victims were aged 25 or younger. Since then, on average, one person has been shot and killed each month and several others have been hospitalized with gunshot wounds. Over the past decade, the Gazette recently reported, cases of gun possession in drug trafficking and criminals possessing firearms while they were prohibited have doubled.

“We’ve seen it all over the country and all over the world,” Fehr said. “And we've even seen it in our world here in Billings. We all discuss guns with our children and grandchildren. Conversations I never thought I needed to have.

In total, Fehr sentenced Aradia to 25 years in prison, with 10 years suspended. Fehr ordered that Aradia serve a 20-year prison sentence for assault and criminal endangerment, recommending that she be placed in the Montana Women's Prison. Fehr said MWP has numerous programs for Aradia to receive mental health treatment. She also sentenced Aradia to an additional five years under the supervision of the Montana DOC in connection with Aradia's no-contest plea to stalking. Under this supervision, Aradia will not be allowed to possess a firearm or ammunition.

When given the opportunity to speak, Aradia said she could never apologize enough for the pain she caused those at the Billings clinic and the family she harassed. She accepted the impact of her actions, she said, and recognized that corrective action was warranted.