Johnathan Decouteau

A Minot man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the August 2025 shooting death of Dorian Thomas, 19, has been sentenced to serve seven years with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Johnathan Lee DeCoteau, 19, appeared in North Central District Court Wednesday morning, Feb. 11, for sentencing. DeCoteau had previously entered a change of plea, pleading guilty to manslaughter, a Class B felony, and tampering with physical evidence, a Class C felony. One Class A misdemeanor count of providing false information to law enforcement was dismissed in accordance with a plea agreement.

According to court documents, on Aug. 13, 2025, Minot Central Dispatch received a report of an individual bleeding and lying between garages of a northeast Minot apartment complex. The victim was eventually identified as Thomas, who was pronounced deceased at the scene from a gunshot wound to his head.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, DeCoteau arrived on scene and provided conflicting statements to law enforcement regarding the events, including claiming Thomas had harmed himself. An autopsy and other witness statements would disprove DeCoteau’s version of events.

Judge Gary Lee sentenced DeCoteau to serve 20 years with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, to first serve five years for the manslaughter count; with credit for 207 days served. Fifteen years of DeCoteau’s sentence will be suspended pending the successful completion of five years of supervised probation. He was also ordered to have no contact with the victim’s family along with a 150 foot distance. Lee also sentenced DeCoteau to serve two years consecutively for the tampering count.

DeCoteau was assessed $2,242 in restitution and $125 in court fines and fees.

DeCoteau still faces a Class C felony theft charge, for the alleged theft of the firearm used in the Aug. 13, 2025, shooting. According to court documents, a household member of DeCoteau’s reported two firearms were missing, one of which matched the description for the one used in the shooting. DeCoteau has waived the preliminary hearing in and pleaded not guilty to the charge.