(BILLINGS) Jacob Standing Elk of Billings has been charged with one count of deliberate homicide and two counts of assault with a weapon in the death of a 20-year-old woman in a September 23 crash in Billings Heights.
Prosecutors say Standing Elk, 16 years old, was suicidal and intoxicated prior to crashing into Haley Hutzenbiler’s car, killing her and injuring another woman.
Standing Elk has been in the hospital since the crash but appeared in District Court Monday to face his charges.
Court documents say Standing Elk was driving drunk and texting friends saying he “didn’t want to live anymore” and “wanted to die.”
Officers say Standing Elk hit a speed of 124 miles per hour on Wicks Lane just seconds before striking Hutzenbiler’s car, which was stopped at a red light.
Police found an empty champagne bottle and a handwritten note describing a sex assault allegation against Standing Elk in his car.
He will appear November 21 in court again, where a judge will decide if he should be tried as a youth in the case.
- Reported by Andrea Lutz
