The woman accused in the hit-and-run death of Mika Westwolf pleads guilty

A settlement was reached in the case of Sunny Katherinne White, who was charged with beating Mika Westwolf with his vehicle on U.S. Highway 93 in Arlee in March 2023.

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

White faces five charges in Westwolf’s hit-and-run death, including vehicular manslaughter under the influence.

During Wednesday’s court hearing in Polson, White pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and “incidents involving another person.”

MTN News

As part of the plea agreement, two counts of criminal endangerment of a child and one count of criminal possession of dangerous drugs were dismissed.

White previously pleaded not guilty to all five charges against her.

A sentencing date in White’s case has not yet been set, although it is expected to occur in early 2025.
We will inform you if we receive more information.

---

---

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

Westwolf died after being struck by a vehicle while walking on Highway 93 near White Coyote Road just outside Arlee in March 2023.

The suspect in Mika Westwolf’s hit-and-run death appears in court

Seven months later, White was charged with five counts: DUI vehicular manslaughter, accidents involving another person or a deceased person, two counts of child endangerment and unlawful possession of dangerous drugs.

White was arrested on October 20, 2023, on an out-of-jurisdictional warrant and spent the weekend in the Flathead County Jail. She was released on Sunday.

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

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

Just over an hour later, at 5:23 a.m., a Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputy observed a gold 2008 Cadillac Escalade with front-end damage and a missing passenger-side rearview mirror parked just behind Polson. The damage to the vehicle is consistent with the vehicle debris described at the scene.

The deputy saw a woman – soon identified as Sunny White – moving items from the damaged Escalade to another car. The affidavit says White found her vehicle was overheating and called a friend to help her.

The affidavit states that White claimed she hit the deer, did not stop and continued driving – “(White) claimed she was giving the baby a bottle and did not see the deer,” the court document states.

The affidavit says White had her two children, Aryan, 4, and Nation, 2, in the car.

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

She also denied drinking alcohol and that “she had not used methamphetamine or fentanyl for a week,” the court document states.

In a statement to Trooper Dager, White explained that she assumed he had hit a deer and turned left on the highway. The vehicle was then stopped and towed away.

MHP Trooper Wayne Bieber documented the crash site. The statement said that “evidence from the scene indicates that Westwolf was walking in the northbound lane or near the fog line when she was struck by the suspect vehicle.”

Westwolf was struck head-on, and the force of the impact threw her body closer to the north side of the road, the statement said. Westwolf died from multiple blunt force injuries.

WHO WAS MIKA WESTWOLF?

Who was Mika Westwolf?

After interviewing Westwolf’s brother, Davian Howard, police learned the siblings had gone to a bar in the Ravalli area that evening.

According to the affidavit, on their way back to Arlee, the two stopped near North Valley Creek, about five miles north of the crash site, where Wetwolf left her phone in the vehicle and walked away. Howard couldn’t find Westwolf and left her a voicemail at 1:13

The affidavit says cellphone records show White left Butte near midnight, passed through Missoula at 2:45 a.m. and was at the scene of the crash at 3 a.m.

After obtaining a search warrant for White’s vehicle, they found methamphetamine, five syringes and two unopened packages of Narcan. White’s blood sample also tested positive for methamphetamine and fentanyl.

White was issued a summons to appear in Lake County Court the first Wednesday after her arrest.

In the months after her death, Westwolf’s family created the “Mika Matters” movement to raise awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) and call for justice in her case.

The family released A statement on Friday, which states:

“As seven months have passed since Mika’s tragic death, it is imperative to acknowledge that this arrest is only the beginning of the journey towards justice. The fight to hold accountable, raise awareness and protect the lives of Indigenous Peoples and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives continues. Our hearts go out to the families who continue to search for their loved ones, and we are deeply saddened that Native Americans continue to disappear at an alarming rate. “Addressing this problem has never been more urgent.”

We will inform you when we receive more information.