Murder charge filed against LRCO man in shooting of girlfriend’s son

Submitted by KDQN.net

First degree murder charges have been filed against a Little River County man arrested in late July for allegedly shooting his girlfriend’s son.

According to records in the Little River Circuit Court, the first-degree murder charge was formally filed on Aug. 31 against 65-year-old Walter Duermit.

The charge stems from an incident on July 26. That night Little River County deputies were dispatched to a residence on Little River County Road 170 after receiving a report about a fatal shooting in the home. Dispatchers were informed by a woman on the phone that her boyfriend had shot and killed her son.

When deputies arrived they secured the scene and identified the boyfriend as 65-year-old Walter Duermit. The victim, 37-year-old Joshua Yeager, was found deceased inside the home.

Duermit was then arrested for the offense of murder and taken to the Little River County Jail.

The arrest affidavit states Duermit allegedly admitted to shooting Yeager following an altercation at the home. Duermit reportedly told investigators that Yeager was unarmed when he retrieved a gun and shot Yeager once.

Upon a conviction, the Class Y felony offense of first-degree murder carries a sentence of 10 to 40 years or life imprisonment.