Dennis Allen Stewart wanted his girlfriend back, even though she tried to shoot him but missed, hitting their dog instead.

A year and a half later, deputies found Stewart shot to death in the small cabin he shared with his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Tina Marie Hill.

Tina Marie Hill

Hill, 53, was arrested Saturday on first degree murder and other charges, said Crook County Undersheriff, James Savage.

Stewart's body was found Thanksgiving Day in the isolated cabin about 30 to 40 miles outside Prineville, Savage said. Deputies went there to check on him after a relative had called, worried. Stewart had been out of touch.

The small cabin is in a rural, off-grid area, without water or power. The couple rented the cabin for several years amid a rocky relationship punctuated by police involvement, with each calling the sheriff's office at separate times following disputes with each other and neighbors, Savage said.

At one point, Hill had a restraining order against Stewart, Savage said.

He was 51 when he died and a convicted sex offender, court records show.

She had felonies in several states, Savage said, including a felony conviction for forgery in Oregon in 1987, court records show.

Then came June, 2016. That month sheriff's deputies arrested Hill on suspicion of trying to kill Stewart. Savage said she fired at him, missed, hit the wall and ended up injuring their dog.

The animal survived, Savage said.

She was released a month later on condition that she live at a women's shelter, have no weapons and forego all contact with Stewart.

He couldn't live without her.

He said as much in a petition filed with the court in June, 2016.

"I do not feel that it is helping her to keep her away from our home and I need her home," the petition said.

The court ended up dismissing the case, court records show. Stewart refused to cooperate with prosecutors, Savage said.

But this past March, she pleaded guilty to harassment and was sentenced to a yearlong probation.

The couple were living together when Stewart was killed, Savage said.

Hill was arrested after a nearly two-week investigation, Savage said. She's currently in Jefferson County jail, facing four allegations: murder in the first degree, second-degree manslaughter, felon in possession of a weapon and reckless endangering.

She'll be arraigned on Monday.

Shane Dixon Kavanaugh contributed to this report.

-- Lynne Terry