Jockey Arrested, Suspect in Maryland Murder Case

U.S. Marshals arrested Mid-Atlantic jockey Bryson L. Butterfly, 18, in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., July 13 as a suspect in a first-degree murder and robbery in Maryland that occurred in April.

Butterfly is one of three suspects allegedly involved in the crime in Baltimore County, according to an announcement from the U.S. Marshals Mountain State Fugitive Task Force. Two other co-conspirators were previously arrested and currently detained in the Baltimore County Detention Center.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Butterfly is a suspect in the shooting of Elias Cieslak, 17, April 23 on Belair Road. A grand jury reportedly indicted David Dionte Lofton, 32, on charges of first-degree murder, armed robbery, and firearm offenses. A minor also has faces the same charges, the Sun reported from Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger. 

Butterfly is a Native American originally from Washington State with family in the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, the Maryland Jockey Club reported when he got his first win on the East Coast as an apprentice in October 2021. He rode his first winner June 1 that year at Grants Pass and also road at Emerald Downs, Oregon Livestock and Crooked River in Oregon, and Arizona Downs.

To date, Butterfly has ridden 58 winners from 771 starts and his mounts have earned nearly $2.1 million.

Butterfly is currently being held at the Eastern Regional Jail to await his extradition to Maryland, according to the U.S. Marshals.