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Lake County man who got a deferred sentence in connection with the death of a Ronan woman is back in jail

By: MTN News

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(MISSOULA) Donovan Sherwood, who recently received a deferred sentence for his role in the death of a woman near McDonald Lake, is now back in jail.

Sherwood, 18 years old, is in the Lake County jail for an alleged partner/family member assault.

Last week he received a three-year deferred sentence as part of a plea agreement he received for his cooperation with law enforcement in their investigation into the death of 24-year-old Cassandra Harris in June 2018.

On June 24th, Harris was found in on a road near McDonald Lake in critical condition. She later died in the hospital. According to court documents, Sherwood was the driver of the vehicle that Harris was pushed out of by another person. That shove caused Harris to sustain a traumatic head injury, and she later died in a hospital.

The latest incident happened on Tuesday, December 4th, when a Lake County Sheriff’s deputy arrested Sherwood for “applying pressure on the throat or neck of the partner or family.” Court documents do not specify the age of the alleged victim, nor the relation to Sherwood.

This is not the first time Sherwood has been arrested for assaulting a person. On June 27, 2018 he was charged with two felony counts of assault with a weapon and assault on a minor for punching and hitting a 13-year-old girl with a dumbbell.

Lake County Attorney Steve Eschenbacher says he will petition to have Sherwood’s deferred sentence in the Harris case revoked.

If the petition is successful, Sherwood would receive a new sentence with a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Sherwood’s arraignment has yet to be scheduled in the latest assault charge.

Reported by Connor McCauley

(OCTOBER 10, 2018) Joseph Parizeau, the man accused of killing 24-year-old Cassandra Harris of Ronan, is facing new charges, including accusations that he’s been threatening witnesses in the case.

Parizeau is accused of killing Harris back in June. Prosecutors in Lake County say he originally told police that Harris died while trying to get back into his vehicle while it was moving.

He will now face three counts of tampering with a witness.But prosecutors accuse him of threatening the three other people who were there the night Harris died, saying if they didn’t repeat his story about how she was killed, bad things would happen to them.

His new bond amount is set at $150,000. His next court date is set for December 17.

(JULY 6, 2018) New details have been released about the death of Cassandra Harris that happened near McDonald Lake on June 24th.

According to court documents Harris, 24 years old, was on her way to a party with the four suspected assailants.

When the group of five arrived at the party too early, Harris and one of the other people in the car, Joe Parizeau of Ronan, 22, got out of the vehicle.

One of those facing charges in the incident — Donovan Sherwood of Arlee, 18, says Parizeau came back to the truck yelling “let’s ditch her” and “let’s leave her.”

The group started to drive off in the truck and Harris began trying to re-enter the vehicle while it was moving between 10 and 15 mph.

Court documents state that while Harris was trying to get back into the vehicle, Parizeau pushed her out.

Harris then fell onto the road with enough force to fracture her skull. She was taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center where she was declared brain dead and later taken off life support.

Parizeau is being charged with negligent homicide while Sherwood is facing obstructing justice charges.

Two others involved in the incident — Julia Vaile of Browning, 18, and Gale Hendrickx of Pablo, 19, are being charged with negligent homicide, but affidavits in their cases have not yet been made available.