Arrests made in connection with Kellogg man's death

KELLOGG — Two men were arrested Tuesday in connection to the death of a Kellogg man this past weekend. 

August Mota, 33, and Martin Duncan, 42, both from California, have been charged with voluntary manslaughter in the death of 28-year-old Reed Norris. 

According to court documents, Norris died following a fight with both men when he was struck in the side of his head. 

During their first appearances in court Wednesday, Shoshone County Prosecutor Ben Allen argued that because neither man had ties to the community and both have criminal histories, their bonds should be set at $50,000 for Duncan and $100,000 for Mota. 

Magistrate Judge Keisha Oxendine agreed with Allen’s concerns but increased those amounts to $100,000 and $150,000, respectively. 

Each man faces a potential maximum of 15 years imprisonment for the voluntary manslaughter charge.

Norris’s body was found Monday afternoon behind a building on the corner of McKinley and West Park avenues, which houses several businesses.

All three men had been drinking at the nearby Dirty Dog Saloon on Saturday evening and into Sunday morning, according to court records.

Surveillance footage showed that Norris followed Mota and Duncan out of the bar just after midnight before engaging in the fight.

According to Mota, after Norris had knocked Duncan unconscious, he came to his aid and struck Norris with a single left-handed punch. 

Mota and Duncan were staying at a local short-term rental as part of a fire crew working in the mountains around Shoshone County.

Both men were taken into custody Tuesday morning at the Fernan Fire Station in Coeur d’Alene before being transported and booked in Shoshone County jail.   

According to the medical examiner, Norris’s cause of death was blunt force trauma by epidermal hematoma to the right side of his head. Epidermal hematoma occurs when blood accumulates between the skull and the membrane that covers the brain.