A 28-year-old Montana mother of two sons named Aryan and Nation was arrested for fatally beating a Native American woman while she was allegedly high on methamphetamine, and then claiming she mistook the victim for a deer.
Sunny White was arrested in Flathead County on Friday on a Lake County warrant charging her with vehicular manslaughter while under the influence in the March 2023 death of 22-year-old Mika Westwolf.
Additional charges against White include accidents involving another person or a deceased person, two counts of endangering a child and criminal possession of dangerous drugs.
Westwolf was walking on Highway 93 in the Arlee area in the early hours of March 31 when she was struck by White’s Cadillac Escalade carrying her 4-year-old daughter, Aryan Holmes, and 2-year-old son, Nation. Holmes.
A subsequent search of White’s Cadillac found methamphetamine, syringes and two unopened packages of Narcan, according to an affidavit filed in the case and cited by station KRTV. A blood test showed that the mother of two had methamphetamine and fentanyl in her system at the time of the accident.
Sunny White, 28, has been arrested on five charges, including vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, in a fatal hit-and-run crash in March 2023. Flathead County Detention Center White is accused of hitting and killing to Mika Westwolf, 22, a Native American woman from Montana. Courtesy of Carissa Heavy Runner
The investigation into Westwolf’s death lasted seven months, during which time the victim’s family led a statewide campaign to raise awareness about her case and others involving murdered and missing Indigenous women, and to demand that White be held accountable. .
Carissa Heavy Runner, Westwolf’s mother, told The Missoulian that she was “glad” to learn of White’s arrest.
“But I’m still a little shocked because it really seemed like this day was unattainable,” he added.
Westwolf, a member of the Blackfeet Nation, and his brother, Davian Howard, were returning from a bar in Ravalli after midnight on March 31 when, for an unknown reason, he got out of the car near North Valley Creek and drove away, leaving his phone behind. . behind.
Shortly after 4 a.m., Tribal Officer TJ Haynes came across Westwolf’s body on Highway 93, surrounded by debris from an accident.
Westwolf, a member of the Blackfeet Nation, was walking on Highway 93 near Arlee when White’s Cadillac Escalade struck her head-on, authorities said. Courtesy of Carissa Heavy Runner
About an hour later, a Lake County sheriff’s deputy spotted a gold 2008 Cadillac Escalade with front-end damage and a missing side mirror parked outside the town of Polson.
White, who was seen removing items from the damaged truck and transferring them to another vehicle, told the officer he had hit a deer and did not stop.
“[White] she stated that she was feeding the bottle to her baby and did not see the deer,” the affidavit states.
The 28-year-old woman later told a Montana Highway Patrol trooper who responded to the scene that she was driving with her two children from Butte to Kalispell over the weekend.
At the time of the crash, White was allegedly high on methamphetamine while driving with her two young children named Aryan and Nation. Law Enforcement with Butte-Silver Bow
She denied consuming alcohol and said she “had not used methamphetamine or fentanyl in a week,” according to the court document.
White told the officer he assumed he had hit a deer and veered to the left.
Westwolf was struck head-on and thrown into the air upon impact, according to the affidavit. He died instantly from multiple blunt force injuries.
In the wake of his death, Westwolf’s family launched the “Mika Matters” movement to call for justice through protests and awareness walks.
Westwolf’s death inspired a statewide campaign demanding justice for murdered and missing Indigenous women. Mika matters
Earlier this year, a petition was created on MoveOn.org calling on the Department of Justice to take over the investigation into Westwolf’s death, claiming that “local authorities are uncooperative and frustratingly slow.”
Following White’s arrest, Westwolf’s family issued a statement saying this was “just the beginning of the journey toward justice.”
“The fight to demand accountability, raise awareness and protect the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous people and their Indigenous family members remains an ongoing battle,” they said.
White is due back in court for his arraignment on Wednesday.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn