A man accused of killing a woman in Laurel earlier this month pleaded not guilty in Yellowstone County District Court on Thursday morning.
Authorities have determined Laurel woman Lori Bray, 57, died of strangulation, sometime after she was seen giving her alleged killer, Diego Hernandez, 22, a ride home on early in the morning on Oct. 1 after her shift at a casino.
Bray's nude and beaten body was discovered in the evening of Oct. 2 on Yard Office Road behind two trees east of Laurel, a few miles away from where her car had been found near the Yellowstone National Cemetery, according to an affidavit filed by the Yellowstone County Attorney's Office.
Hernandez’s bond is $500,000 and he remains in the Yellowstone County Detention Facility.
