Plea agreement reached in case of Sunny Katherinne White accused of shooting Mika Westwolf In March 2023, he was driving his vehicle on US Highway 93 in Arlee.

Westwolf, a 22-year-old Indigenous woman, was walking home along Highway 93 near White Coyote Road when she was struck and killed by the vehicle driven by White.

White had faced five charges in Westwolf’s hit-and-run death, including vehicular homicide while under the influence.

In court in Polson on Wednesday, White pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and “incidents involving another person.”

MTN News

Two counts of criminal child endangerment and one count of criminal possession of dangerous drugs were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

White had previously pleaded not guilty to all five charges against him.

A sentencing date for White has not yet been scheduled, but it is expected to be in early 2025.
We will keep you informed if we receive more information.

(23 OCTOBER 2023) Sunny Katherinne White has been charged with vehicular homicide by the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office in connection with the death of Mika Josephine Westwolf.

Westwolf died in March 2023 when he was struck by a vehicle while walking along Highway 93 near White Coyote Road, just outside Arlee.

Suspect in Mika Westwolf’s hit-and-run death appeared in court

Seven months later, White was charged with five felonies: vehicular homicide while intoxicated, accidents involving another person or the deceased, child endangerment, and possession of dangerous drugs.

White was arrested on an outstanding warrant on October 20, 2023, and spent the weekend in the Flathead County Jail. On Sunday, he was hooked.

MTN News confirmed on Monday that an affidavit was submitted detailing what investigators allege happened the night of the fatal hit-and-run.

According to testimony, around 4:15 a.m. on March 31, 2023, Tribal Police Officer TJ Haynes was on patrol on Highway 93 north of Arlee when he saw vehicle wreckage and a body. Mika Westwolf was later identified as the victim.

A little more than an hour later, at 5:23 a.m., a Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputy noticed a gold 2008 Cadillac Escalade with front-end damage and a missing passenger-side rearview mirror parked just outside Polson. did. The damage to the vehicle matched the description of the vehicle wreck described at the scene.

Deputies soon saw a woman, identified as Sunny White, moving items from the wrecked Escalade to another car. Allegedly, White said his vehicle was overheating and he called a friend to help him.

The affidavit states White claimed he hit a deer, did not stop, and continued driving — “(White) claimed she gave her baby a bottle and did not see the deer,” court documents state.

The affidavit states that White had two children in his car, 4-year-old Aryan and 2-year-old Nation.

White told Montana Highway Patrol Officer Tyler Dager that she was “driving from Butte to Kalispell for the weekend with her two young children.”

He also denied consuming alcohol and “had not used methamphetamine or fentanyl in a week,” according to court documents.

In a statement to Police Officer Dager, White said he thought the thing he hit was a deer and turned left on the highway. The vehicle was then seized and taken away with a tow truck.

MHP Trooper Wayne Bieber documented the crash scene. “Evidence obtained from the scene indicates that Westwolf was walking in the northbound travel lane or near the fog line when struck by the suspect vehicle,” the affidavit states.

Westwolf was struck head-on and the force of the impact pushed his body toward the north side of the road, the affidavit said. Westwolf died from multiple blunt force injuries.

WHO IS MIKA WESTWOLF?

Who was Mika Westwolf?

After speaking with Westwolf’s brother, Davian Howard, troopers learned that the brothers had gone to a bar in the Ravalli area that evening.

On their way back to Arlee, the two stopped near North Valley Creek, about three miles north of the crash site, where Wetwolf left his phone in the vehicle and drove away, according to testimony. Howard couldn’t find Westwolf and left him a voicemail at 1:13 a.m.

The affidavit states that based on cell phone data, White left Butte around midnight, passed through Missoula at 2:45 a.m., and was at the scene of the crash at 3 a.m.

After a search warrant was executed on White’s vehicle, methamphetamine, 5 syringes, and 2 unopened Narcan packets were found. White’s blood sample tested positive for methamphetamine and fentanyl.

White was ordered to appear at the Lake County Courthouse the first Wednesday after his arrest.

In the months following his death, Westwolf’s family founded the “Mika Matters” movement to raise awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) and call for justice in his case.

family released expression On Friday he says:

“As seven months have passed since Mika’s tragic death, it is important to recognize that this arrest is just the beginning of the journey to justice. The quest for accountability, raising awareness, and the fight to protect the lives of Indigenous people and Missing and Murdered Indigenous people is an ongoing struggle for relatives.” “Our hearts go out to the families still searching for their loved ones, and we are deeply saddened that Native Americans continue to disappear at an alarming rate.”

We will update you as we receive more information.