LAKE COUNTY, MONTANA: A Montana mother-of-two, who allegedly hit and killed a Native American woman Mika Josephine Westwolf while high on meth and fentanyl, has been arrested after a seven-month investigation.
Sunny White, 28, claimed she thought she had struck a deer and did not stop to check on the victim.
Who was Mika Westwolf?
The victim, 22-year-old Mika Westwolf, was a member of the Blackfeet Nation.
She had been walking along Highway 93 in the area of Arlee on March 31, when she was hit by White’s Cadillac Escalade.
White was carrying her four-year-old daughter, Aryan Holmes, and her two-year-old son, Nation Holmes at the time of the incident.
After her sudden death, Westwolf’s family launched the “Mika Matters” movement to call for justice and raise awareness of the issue of murdered and missing indigenous women.
Carissa Heavy Runner, Westwolf’s mother, told The Missoulian that she was “glad” to learn of White’s arrest.
“But I’m still kind of in shock because it really seemed like this day was unreachable,” she added.
Meth, syringes and Narcan found in Sunny White's SUV
Sunny White was apprehended in Flathead County on Friday, October 20, on a warrant out of Lake County, according to New York Post.
She was charged with vehicular homicide while under the influence, accidents involving another person or deceased person, two counts of criminal child endangerment and criminal possession of dangerous drugs.
According to an affidavit filed in the case, when the authorities conducted a search of White’s SUV, they found methamphetamine, syringes and two unopened packages of Narcan.
A blood test showed that White had methamphetamine and fentanyl in her system at the time of the crash, KRTV reported.
Sunny White denied using methamphetamine or fentanyl
White told a Montana Highway Patrol trooper that she was driving with her four-year-old daughter Aryan Holmes and her two-year-old son Nation Holmes from Butte to Kalispell for the weekend.
She denied drinking alcohol and said she “hadn’t used methamphetamine or fentanyl in a week,” according to the court document.
The affidavit states, “[White] claimed she was passing a bottle back to her baby and didn’t see the deer," court documents state.
How was Mika Josephine Westwolf found?
Shortly after 4 am, Tribal Officer TJ Haynes came across Westwolf’s body on Highway 93, surrounded by car debris from a crash.
Westwolf was hit head-on and thrown into the air on impact. She died on the spot from multiple blunt-force injuries.
The accident happened when Westwolf and her brother Howard returned from a bar in Ravalli.
On their way back, Westwolf left the car near North Valley Creek and walked away. Howard could not find her and left her a voicemail at 1.13 am.
Sunny White
White is due back in court for her arraignment on Wednesday, October 25. Following White’s arrest, the Westwolf family released a statement.
The family said that this was “just the beginning of the journey towards justice.”
"The fight to seek accountability, raise awareness, and protect the lives of indigenous people and Missing and Murdered indigenous relatives remains11 an ongoing battle," they said.
